Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds: Virtual Kingdom
by judodave
Summary: Sequel to Yu-Gi-Oh GX The Future, five years have passed since the Orichalcos was laid to rest and Sophia Pegasus has something big planned for the duelling world, however will a new evil emerge at her grandest plan yet?
1. New Beginnings

It was a beautiful day in Los Angeles California, the sun was setting on the beachfront and things were going as normal for the residents of LA but in an office, building overlooking the waterfront it was business as usual and that business was duel monsters.

Five men sat in the office at the top floor of the building, all of them were major figures in the Duel Monsters world and they sat in silence, waiting for the sixth person to appear, however one man grew impatient.

"Do we really need to wait for Ms. Pegasus?" The man asked as he leaned back, he was a tall, handsome man with dark green shoulder length hair and matching eyes dressed in a teal business suit. "We are here to discuss the tournaments planned for Duel Monsters in the coming year, are we not?"

"Claudio, do you really expect to start such a meeting without the current CEO of I2 present?" Seto Kaiba asked as he turned to the man. "After all, her company creates the cards that we make money off of."

"You mean her father's company." Claudio scoffed and the other men present murmured in agreement as the elevator doors opened behind them. "I will give Ms. Pegasus credit, she has done a lot for the game since she took over from Maximilian, but she is just a child."

"This "child" is twenty four and happens to be standing right behind you." Sophia's voice rang out and the men in the room looked up seeing the attractive brunette woman walking forward, her waist length hair was tied into a low ponytail and she was dressed in a black business suit with a skirt that went down to her knees. "Apologies for my delay gentlemen, just had some things to finalize." Sophia apologized as she took a seat next to Claudio and crossed her legs.

"Things to finalize outside of the most important business meeting of the Duel Monsters calendar year?" Claudio scoffed as he turned to the younger woman. "This had better be good." Claudio added, and Sophia grinned.

"It is better than good." Sophia responded before turning to Kaiba. "A little secret project that I've been working on with Seto since the Orichalcos business five years ago is finally ready to be unveiled."

"Secret project between KaibaCorp and Industrial Illusions?" Claudio echoed as he raised an eyebrow. "Now you've got my attention."

"Before we get started, I want to make one thing absolutely clear." Kaiba interjected as he leaned forward. "Until Sophia is ready to unveil her plans for this project news of its existence is not to be leaked, anyone caught doing so will suffer severe consequences." Kaiba warned the men and they nodded before Sophia stood up and walked to the front of the room. "Slides are ready Sophia."

"Excellent." Sophia smirked before turning on the projector, by the end of the meeting not only where the men on board with the idea, but they were giving her a standing ovation.

*two weeks later*

It was an average day at Industrial Illusions, at least for the rank and file employees, for the CEO, it was anything but normal.

"Ms. Pegasus, we have compiled the files you requested." The technician commented as Sophia watched on, currently wearing the crop top with the I2 logo on her chest and jeans with her hair down Sophia watched on with her arms crossed. "Which profile do you want first?"

"Start with the one who competed in a tournament most recently." Sophia responded as she glanced over at the technician who inputted some commands.

"Duelist profile: Name: Chelsea Cunningham, Alias: The Shock Rock Chick, age: 23, Nationality: American, Hometown: Chicago, Illinois, current residence: Woodstock, Illinois." The computer read off Chelsea's profile as her picture loaded up. "Spouse: Elizabeth "Beth" McKenzie, Deck: Wattitude."

"Still hasn't gotten around to changing her deck name I see." Sophia chuckled as she glanced at Chelsea's picture. "So, what's she been up too?"

"Ms. Cunningham has been competing on the National Circuit since she graduated from Duel Academy several years ago and is one of the forerunners for the D-Wheel method of dueling." The technician responded as he typed away. "Her conviction for assault at the age of fifteen remains her only criminal conviction."

"And from I remember, that is unlikely to change any time soon" Sophia responded with a nod. "What off her old roommate?" Sophia asked and the technician typed away some more.

"Duelist Profile: Name: Chloe Richardson, Age: 22, Nationality: American, Hometown: Brooklyn, New York, current residence: Domino City." The computer read off Chloe's profile as the image loaded. "Spouse: Lance Alvers, Deck: Swords and Sorcery."

"Ms. Richardson has been maintaining a low profile since her graduation, despite coming third in Battle City when she was still an Osiris Red Student and second in the Las Vegas Battle City when she was in Obelisk Blue, she has stated that she would rather work her way up than rely on past success." The technician explained as he typed away. "From what we could gather, it seems her stepfather is setting her up to run his game shop once he retires should her duelist career go nowhere, and she currently works there alongside her spouse."

"Doesn't surprise me, always struck me as someone who valued hard work over being given anything." Sophia nodded as she looked at the screen. "Aside from working at the shop, what has her spouse been up too?" Sophia asked and the technician typed away.

"Duelist Profile: Name: Lance Alvers, Age: 22, Nationality: American, Hometown: Phoenix, Arizona, current residence: Domino City." The computer read off the profile and Sophia did a double take as the profile picture loaded. "Spouse: Chloe Richardson, Deck: Hellfire."

"He's certainly changed his appearance a bit since the Duel Academy Days." Sophia nodded as she looked at the picture, unlike the girls Lance had his hair up in a ponytail and was now sporting a goatee. "What was he been up too?"

"Much the same as Richardson really, he's been focused on working his way up." The technician responded as he read off the info. "His brother has been competing in regional tournaments in Arizona, his sister is currently a student at Duel Academy, seems she's in the Osiris Red Dorm."

"I guess the old adage is true, dueling runs in the family." Sophia responded with a nod. "Let's go with someone from outside of America next, what has Andreas been up too?" Sophia asked and the technician typed the info in.

"Duelist profile: name: Andreas Freshier, Age: 23, Nationality: German, Hometown: Berlin, Germany, current residence: Queens, New York." The computer said as it read off the info. "Spouse: Nicola Hastings, Deck: Lords of the Jungle."

"Andreas lived in Germany for two years after graduation before he moved to New York to be closer with Nicola." The technician responded with a frown. "It seems he also moved away to escape his brother's shadow, even as Otto continues to serve a life-sentence for his role in the Orichalcos infiltrating Battle City and it's well established that Andreas is nothing like Otto no sponsor in his home country would take him on."

"Shame, his deck was on par with mine when we dueled." Sophia sighed in response as she glanced up at the profile picture. "And whilst we're talking about Nicola, what has she been up too?" Sophia asked and the technician typed up the info.

"Duelist Profile: Name: Nicola Hastings, Age: 22, Nationality: American, Hometown: Queens, New York, current residence: Queens, New York." The computer said as the profile picture loaded up. "Spouse: Andreas Freshier, Deck: Crystal Brilliance."

"Nicola has pretty much become a role model for people with learning disabilities in general and not just Autism, doesn't hurt that she has been open with her Autism diagnosis since she joined the Pro-Leagues." The Technician explained as Sophia noticed a hint of appreciation in his voice as he got choked up. "Sorry Sophia, she is my niece's hero for that reason, she's also become an animal rights activist and has been vocal in her opposition to PETA and similar organizations."

"She's living out her dream, can't say I feel too bad about that." Sophia admitted with a small smile. "That just leaves on person who started in Ra Yellow." Sophia added and the technician nodded before loading the profile, however when the pic loaded up, she did a double take. "Well, he's certainly changed."

"Duelist profile: Name: Marcus Reynolds, Age: 23, Nationality: American, Hometown: Bensonhurst, New York, current residence: Bensonhurst, New York." The computer read out as the picture of the once chubby student loaded up showing that he had lost a lot of weight since his Duel Academy Days. "Spouse: Marie Gray, Deck: Descent of Dragons."

"Yeah, and from all reports, it was on doctor's orders, Marcus has stated in several interviews that he changed his life after a doctor told him in no uncertain terms that he wouldn't live another five years in his current life style and that was after his graduation." The technician responded and Sophia nodded. "Happy to report that he's still alive and on the national circuit."

"Good for him, can't imagine that news being easy to take." Sophia responded with a nod, "So that covers everyone from Ra Yellow and Osiris Red, what about those who started in Obelisk Blue?"

"Anyone in particular?" The technician asked and it didn't take Sophia long to answer as he loaded the profile up.

"Duelist Profile: Name: Tyler Saritas, alias: Tyler Kaiba, Age: 24, Nationality: American, Hometown: Domino City, Current Residence: Domino City." The computer said as the profile loaded up and Sophia kept her eyes locked with his picture. "Spouse: N/A, Deck: Psycho Psychics."

"_Good, he's honored the agreement." _Sophia thought before glancing over at the technician. "Last I heard, he was working at KaibaCorp with his sister on the side."

"Correct, they work as Duel Disk testers, the last line of defense before the latest models are sent to us to ensure that they work with the cards we produce." The technician nodded and Sophia folded her arms. "They recently started on the International Circuit, we haven't had time to put together a profile on his sister."

"She can wait." Sophia said dismissively as she glanced at Tyler's picture. "Miranda and Tyler are talented duelists but very different in their approach, should be interesting to see what happens, load up the last two profiles." Sophia added and the technician nodded before loading them up.

"Duelist profile: Name: Theresa Daniels, Age: 24, Hometown: Midtown, New York, Current Residence: Syracuse, New York." The profile read out as the picture loaded. "Spouse: Brandon Thomas, Deck: Soldier Strike."

"Since starting on the pro-leagues, Theresa has retired all but one of her decks." The technician said as he typed away. "Like Chloe, she doesn't want to be handed anything, even though she came in second at Battle City she wants to fight for everything she owns."

"Two girls from humble beginnings fighting their way to the top, sounds like something from a movie." Sophia chuckled before motioning for the technician to load up the last profile.

"Duelist profile: Name: Brandon Thomas, Age: 24, Hometown: Los Angeles, California, Current Residence: Syracuse, New York." The computer read out the last profile but even then, Sophia was getting ready to leave. "Spouse: Theresa Daniels, Deck: Tides of Chaos."

"Since moving in together, Theresa and Brandon have rarely, if ever, entered a tournament alone, whether it be singles or tag team." The technician added before chuckling. "The promoters often try hard to make it so that they face off in the finals, mixed results for obvious reasons."

"Off course, the game can be unpredictable." Sophia nodded as the door opened. "Send the profiles to my office on the double, including Miranda's when you get the chance, and compile the rest of the profiles whilst you're at it" Sophia added, and the technician nodded. "Take all the time you need, just remember, we have a deadline to meet and I won't be happy if your late with the info I need."

"With all do respect ma'am." The technician responded as he turned to her. "You are talking about duelists from all over the world, from the regional to the national championships, before we even started in those profiles, we had only compiled one profile."

"Yes, the Eastern European duelist." Sophia nodded as she folded her arms. "Let me spell it out for you, you have a wealth of information at your fingertips and I expect results, I realize that you are over twenty years my senior but surely, you've heard of Google and Social Media?"

"I'll get right on it." The technician nodded before he returned to his work, satisfied Sophia smirked before she left, as she walked down the hallway Sophia put a hand to her earpiece. "It's Sophia, did you get all that?"

"Loud and clear." A female voice rang out on the other end, the voice had a strong Eastern European accent and to the untrained ear it would be hard to understand, however Sophia had dealt with the woman several times by this point and was able to decipher her accent easily enough. "So, when do you want me to send them the package?"

"As soon as possible but try to get footage of them dueling first, even if that means dueling them yourself." Sophia responded as she entered the elevator to her office. "The 40th anniversary of Duelist Kingdom is drawing closer by the day Raven, I don't need to tell you how much rides on it being a success."

"Off course, quote the raven, nevermore." Raven responded before hanging up and Sophia sighed before pressing the button for her office.

"_Sometimes I wonder how father dealt with people as eccentric as Raven." _Sophia thought as the elevator doors closed and she was taken up. _"Then again, I think father would've mentioned knowing someone from Eastern Europe who ends each conversation with the one quote everyone knows from "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe."_

*two days later*

It was the day that many people in the Illinois area had been looking forward too all year long, the regional championships often drew large crowds and the defending champion was getting ready to defend her title.

"Everything in place?" A tall, blonde man in a business suit asked as the he watched the engineers work over a D-Wheel that was red, yellow and blue in color. "She'll be here any minute and I don't want any issues."

"Everything's in place sir." The lead engineer responded before the door opened behind them. "Should we tell her about that…"

"Tell me about what?" Chelsea's voice rang out as she approached the two men, appearance wise Chelsea hadn't changed much from her Duel Academy days, whilst her hair was still black with blue streaks in it she had let it grow out a bit so that it now went past her shoulders as opposed to it's original shoulder length but she still had the piercings on her nose and navel and the tattoos on her arms and cheek. "Sorry I'm late, traffic was murder and for some reason, I was told to take my regular bike around the back." Chelsea added and the agent nodded.

"Just another day in Chicago if you ask me." The agent responded before sighing. "And that was because of the usual Christian groups complaining about their kids looking up to someone who's a Satan worshipping metal loving lesbian." The agent added and Chelsea raised an eyebrow. "Their words, not mine."

"And my family wonders why I grew disillusioned with religion." Chelsea muttered under her breath as she shook her head. "They never got so bad that they forced me to go around the back though."

"We just want to avoid controversy the PR firm is still recovering from the rant you made at the last championships." The agent responded and Chelsea rolled her eyes. "Not saying that I disagreed with your points but…"

"But you don't want me to call out republicans on their bullshit again." Chelsea interrupted him before shaking her head. "Don't worry about it Brad, it blew over last year, it'll blow over next year." Chelsea added as she grabbed her helmet. "So, anything I should know about my opponent?"

"Rodney Flannigan, American duelist of Irish descent, uses a Dragon Deck." Brad responded as he showed her the picture. "Shouldn't be too much trouble for the Shock Rock Chick and Wattitude."

"And that's the other thing." Chelsea added as she put her helmet on. "Fire the PR firm that came up with that corny nickname for me, I mean seriously, my three year old niece could come up with better nicknames in her sleep! And remind me to finally change my deck name."

"We literally just hired them." Brad pointed out as a sweat-drop rolled down his head. "And it's marketing."

"I hired you because your managing company worked with my dad when he was starting out on the pro-league." Chelsea responded as she walked over to her bike and hopped onto it. "And the best PR firm you could hire was one who based my nickname on a lame pun? They never even asked what music I actually listen too, they just took your word for it that I listen to rock instead of metal."

"Aren't they basically the same thing?" Brad asked earning an annoyed glare from Chelsea.

"Don't get me started on that again Brad, otherwise I'll be forced to forfeit the title because I stood here arguing with you on that point!" Chelsea responded with a grunt as one of the assistants handed over her deck. "Everything in place deck wise?"

"Err, yeah, all your signature cards are in there as are your staples." Brad responded and Chelsea nodded. "As for the PR firm, the budget is lower for duelists on the national/regional level like yourself." Brad asserted as the engineers got out of the way. "As soon as you go international, I'll hire a better PR firm."

"See that you do, otherwise I might have to fire my first agent." Chelsea responded as the door to the track opened. _"Seriously, The Shock Rock Chick? That's the kind of lame joke that Lance would make!" _Chelsea thought as she heard her theme song, "Rhythm to my Madness" by Dust Bolt, and sped out onto the track. _"Come to think of it, I haven't seen the others from the Orichalcos days since we left Duel Academy, Beth's the sole exception off course, going to have to rectify that as soon as possible."_

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is the moment you've been waiting for, the regional championships!" The MC called out over the cheering crowd as the two bikes sped around the corner. "Introducing the challenger, his dragons lay waste to the competition throughout the tournament and now he seeks to dethrone the champion, please welcome Rodney Flannigan!" The MC added and the crowd cheered as the Irish-American duelist brought his bike to a stop. "And his opponent, she exploded onto the scene five years ago and has been turning away challengers ever since! As controversial as she is talented, please give it up for "The Shock Rock Chick" Chelsea Cunningham!"

"_Yep, that name still makes me cringe!" _Chelsea thought as she brought her bike to a stop and the cheers continued, however there was some noticeable boos from the audience. _"Great, the religious nuts have made their way inside." _Chelsea thought as she eyed a few of the signs in the crowd, shaking her head she turned her attention to Rodney. "You ready to get your ass kicked back to Ireland!?"

"In your dreams Chelsea!" Rodney responded with a good natured grin.

"_Good, it has begun." _A female figure in the crowd thought as she had an ally tape the duel, she was short, around Chloe's height, but her body and face where concealed in a long, zipped up trench coat with the hood up. "Your getting all of this, yes?" The woman asked with an Eastern European Accent and the ally nodded.

"Would've been easier if you had gotten me a press pass Raven." The ally responded and Raven remained motionless. "But yeah, I have a good view of the action up here." The ally added before turning to her. "Why does Sophia want this footage again?"

"She signs our paychecks, does she not?" Raven asked as she stepped closer revealing that the lower half of her face was concealed with a black bandana and that she had cold blue eyes. "Then don't ask questions." Raven added and the ally nodded before turning his attention back to the duel. "Quote the Raven, nevermore."

"_I don't get paid enough for this." _The ally thought as the two duelists got into position.

"So that leaves just one question, fans are you ready for some high speed dueling?" The MC asked and the crowd cheered, much to Chelsea's relief the loud cheers were more than enough to drown out the booing from the religious nuts. "THREE! TWO! ONE! Start the duel!"

"_He needs to work on how he starts duels!" _Chelsea thought as the two duelists sped off, for the first few minutes Chelsea had the lead as they neared the first corner, but Rodney was able to pull out in front at the last second giving him the first turn as Speed World 2 came into play. _"Well, at least I won't have to wait to attack!" _Chelsea thought as their Speed Counters went up by one.

"I set two cards facedown and I summon Alexandrite Dragon!" Rodney called out as he played the cards and the beautiful sapphire dragon appeared on the field with a roar (4/2000/400) and it started flying behind Rodney's D-Wheel. "My dragons will make shoes out of your Watts Chelsea! I end my turn."

"_Hey, someone who's actually done their homework on me!" _Chelsea thought as she drew her card and whilst they turned a corner their Speed Counters went up to two. _"Most of my opponents just enter the match expecting something different, well, let's see how well that does him!" _Chelsea thought before picking up three cards. "Not to sound like a broken record, but I set two cards facedown and I summon Wattcobra!" Chelsea announced as she played the cards and the small, multicolored snake appeared on the field somehow keeping up with Chelsea's d-wheel (4/1000/500). "Your dragon's strong but my cobra doesn't care about that! Because most of my Watts share the same ability to attack you directly! Wattcobra, show him what I mean!" Chelsea commanded and the snake raced towards her opponent…

"I activate my Trap Card Scrap Iron Scarecrow!" Rodney announced as the facedown card flipped up and Chelsea frowned as the scarecrow appeared on the field blocking Wattcobra's path. "This card negates your attack and gets set facedown." Rodney added as the card returned to its original position. "I know exactly what your deck is capable off Chelsea, and that's why I don't plan to give you a chance to attack me directly in this duel!"

"_Not the worst Anti-Watt strategy I've encountered on the pro-leagues but not great either, fortunately my deck's come prepared as well." _Chelsea thought before going over her hand. "It's your move Rodney!" Chelsea called out and Rodney drew his card whilst the speed counters went up to three.

"And just to make sure that you can't defend either." Rodney announced as his facedown card flipped up. "I activate Dragon's Rage! Now all my dragons inflict piercing damage and I'm about to draw first blood! Alexandrite Dragon, attack her cobra!" Rodney commanded and the dragon took flight as he prepared his attack.

"Did you really think it would be that easy? Guess again!" Chelsea responded as her facedown card flipped up. "I activate Interdimensional Matter Transporter! For the rest of the turn Wattcobra is removed from play!" Chelsea added as the snake disappeared from the field. "But please, do try again."

"_If that's not the biggest bluff ever I'm the King of Ireland!" _Rodney thought with a frown as he glanced at his opponent. _"But at the same time, I'm not one to pass up an opportunity like this." _Rodney thought before pointing at Chelsea. "Alexandrite Dragon, attack her life-points directly!" Rodney commanded and the dragon prepared a second attack right at Chelsea.

"Thanks for that." Chelsea responded with a grin as her other facedown card flipped up. "Defense Draw reduces the damage I'll take to zero and I draw a card!" Chelsea added before drawing her card as the attack hit though her life-points remained untouched.

"_I thought so, at least I won't have to worry about taking damage from her cobra." _Rodney thought as they rounded a corner on the track. "It's your move Chelsea." Rodney called out and Chelsea drew her card once Wattcobra returned to the field.

"_One trap prevents me from attacking directly once per turn and the other allows his dragons to inflict piercing damage, if this was a standing duel, I'd be bemoaning the fact that Heavy Storm is still banned!" _Chelsea thought before playing a card. "I activate Speed Spell – Angel Baton, since I have four Speed Counters this allows me to draw three cards and discard one in exchange for those counters." Chelsea added before she slowed down a bit and drew her cards. _"Let's see just how long he can keep this up." _Chelsea thought as she discarded a card. "I summon Wattbull!" Chelsea announced as she played the card and a large bull in the same color scheme as Wattcobra appeared on the field (4/1300/1000).

"What a load of bull!" Rodney responded and Chelsea rolled her eyes.

"That joke wasn't funny the first ten times I've heard it!" Chelsea called back before pointing to Rodney. "Wattbull, attack him directly!" Chelsea commanded and the bull charged right past Alexandrite Dragon….

"Fine, I'll just negate the attack with Scrap-Iron Scarecrow!" Rodney announced as his facedown card flipped up, however as soon as it did Wattbull smashed straight through the scarecrow and Dragon's rage. "What the?!"

"You really should've let that attack go through Rodney, because when Wattbull's direct attack is negated he destroys all face-up trap cards, he's pretty much the Duel Monsters version of a bull in a china shop!" Chelsea responded before pointing to Wattcobra. "And speaking of attacks, Wattcobra, finish what you started last turn!" Chelsea commanded and the cobra sped towards her opponent before biting him on the arm and bringing his life-points down to 7000.

"And the champion draws first blood!" The MC called out as Rodney slowed down a bit. "Can Rodney recover from this setback?"

"_Not if I have any say in the matter." _Chelsea thought before she started inputting commands into her duel disk, "Since Wattcobra just inflicted battle damage I can add one Watt monster from my deck to my hand!" Chelsea continued before she added the card to her hand. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

"_She's definitely as good as her reputation suggests, and as for what I've heard from those religious nuts, well, they seem to be full of it." _Rodney thought before he drew his card and his speed counters went up to four whilst Chelsea's went up to one. _"Perfect!" _Rodney thought before playing the card. "I sacrifice Alexandrite Dragon to summon Strong Wind Dragon!"

"_Shit!" _Chelsea thought as Rodney played the card and Alexandrite Dragon disappeared from the field only to be replaced by a larger green dragon (6/2400/1000).

"This big guy can't be destroyed in battle by a monster with the same attack points as him and since I sacrificed a dragon to summon him half of that dragon's attack points get added to his!" Rodney added as Strong Wind Dragon's attack points went up to 3400. "Best part is? I don't need Dragon's Rage to inflict piercing damage with this guy! Strong Wind Dragon, blow away her cobra!"

"_Yep, that guy's going to be a problem!" _Chelsea thought as the dragon beat its wings at Wattcobra destroying it and bringing her life-points down to 5600. "I activate Damage Gate, since the damage I just took accounts for a lot of the cards in my deck, this will let me Special Summon Wattkitten from my graveyard!" Chelsea announced as she played the card before discarding a card from her hand and the small, multicolored kitten appeared on the field (3/100/100). _"Sending a kitten out against a dragon, if Nicola could see me now, she'd be freaking out!"_

"I've got a powerful dragon on the field and the best you can muster is a kitten?" Rodney scoffed in response as the kitten turned blue indicating it was in defense mode. "Whatever, I'll end my turn." Rodney announced and Chelsea drew her card whilst her speed counters went up by one and Rodney's went up to six.

"_Wattkitten won't do me much good in defense mode, let's hope I can rectify that." _Chelsea thought before looking at her drawn card and playing it. "I activate Speed Spell – Overboost! For the rest of the turn my speed counters go up by six!" Chelsea added before her bike sped up and she overtook Rodney. "So, what's the view like from back there?"

"I preferred it when you were behind me." Rodney grumbled under his breath and Chelsea grinned.

"Don't feel too bad then, because I'm giving up all seven of my counters to draw a card." Chelsea added as her bike pulled back behind Rodney and once, she was far away from him she drew her card. _"Not what I was hoping for, let's hope he doesn't draw something that'll destroy my cards." _Chelsea thought before playing the card. "I set a card facedown, and I'm sending Wattbull and Wattcobra into battle!" Chelsea announced as she set the card and the two monsters leapt into battle before biting Rodney and bringing his life-points down to 4700. "So, what's the view like from back there?" Chelsea asked once Rodney's bike had slowed down.

"That joke worked better when you were in front of me." Rodney responded before going over his hand. "My turn yet?"

"Go for it." Chelsea nodded and Rodney drew his card.

"_Yes, I can end this now!" _Rodney thought with a grin as he his speed counters went up to five and Chelsea's up to 1. "I activate Speed Spell – Dragon's Wrath! I give up my remaining Speed Counters and in exchange, Strong Wind Dragon gains a five hundred attack points for each one." Rodney explained as his dragon's attack went up to 5900. "In other words, once I blow that kitten away, the duel's mine! Strong Wind Dragon, finish it!" Rodney commanded and the dragon prepared his attack.

"I activate my trap cards! Beckoning Light and Urgent Tuning!" Chelsea announced as her facedown cards flipped up. "First off, Beckoning Light forces me to discard my remaining cards and add that many light type monsters to my hand." Chelsea added as she did so, sending her three cards to the graveyard and adding three monsters to her hand. "As for Urgent Tuning, well, I'm tuning Wattkitten and Wattbull together!" Chelsea added as the two monsters leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon.,

"Hold onto your hats folks!" The MC called out as Chelsea retrieved the card from her extra deck and played it. "Chelsea is bringing out the big guns!"

"I Synchro Summon Watthydra!" Chelsea called out and once the bright flash faded and the massive multicolored hydra appeared on the field with a roar (7/1500/1500). "When Wattkitten is used in the Synchro Summon of a Watt Monster I can special summon another Watt monster from my graveyard, I chose not to."

"All that for a new hand and a Synchro Monster with 1500 attack points?!" Rodney asked before shaking his head. "All that changed was my target! Strong Wind Dragon, attack her Hydra!" Rodney commanded and the dragon prepared his attack.

"I'm going to be honest with you Rodney." Chelsea responded as she held up one of the cards in her hand. "I was counting on that, but then again, what's a little honesty between duelists?"

"What are you…." Rodney trailed off once he saw the card in question. "Honest?!"

"That's right! Now, how strong is your dragon?" Chelsea asked with a grin and all color drained from Rodney's face as Watthydra's attack points shot up to 7400. "Watthydra, take a bite of that dragon!" Chelsea commanded and the hydra lunged forward before chomping down on Strong Wind Dragon destroying it and bringing Rodney's life-points down to 2600. "Any other monsters you want to send against my hydra?"

"Take your turn." Rodney responded with a sigh and Chelsea drew her card.

"Sorry Rodney but this is over!" Chelsea announced as she played the card she had drawn. "I summon Wattgiraffe!" Chelsea announced as she played the card and the multicolored giraffe appeared on the field (4/1200/100). "It was a good duel but hey, maybe you'll have better luck next time! Watthydra, Wattgiraffe, attack his life-points directly!" Chelsea commanded and the two monsters launched their attacks at Rodney before biting him and bringing his life-points down to zero.

"The winner of the match and STILL Illinois Regional Champion, the Shock Rock Chick Chelsea Cunningham!" The MC called out as the two bikes came to a stop and Chelsea waved to her fans whilst Rodney looked dejected.

"Did you get all that?" Raven asked the cameraman who nodded as he stood up.

"Yeah, had some difficulty keeping up with the action but I managed okay in the end." The cameraman nodded in response and Raven looked up. "What's the plan now?"

"Sophia booked us first class plane tickets to Domino City, plane's leaving in the morning, so we won't stick around." Raven responded before turning her back on her ally and revealing that the back of her trench coat had a raven on it. "Are you coming or not?" Raven asked and the cameraman nodded.

*later*

Once the ceremony was over Chelsea was ready to leave, as she headed back to the parking lot where she had left her motorbike, she noticed a group of youths surrounding her motorbike and shook her head.

"Yeah, yeah, it's a nice bike, now clear off before…" Chelsea trailed off as she heard a certain sound coming from one of the youths and quickly recognized them as some of the religious nuts from the arena. "HEY!" Chelsea called out and the youth urinating on her bike quickly zipped up his fly as Chelsea ran over. "Ugh, that smell is going to take forever to come out!" Chelsea groaned as she used her sleeve to cover her nose.

"What, you mean like the stench you've left on your championship?" The leader of the youths asked as he walked up to her. "God will have his judgment on you, you dyke!"

"News flash, I've read the bible, nothing about hating gay people in it, so why don't you fuck…." Chelsea never finished her sentence as the leader sucker punched her in the jaw knocking her down as the rest of the youths surrounded her. "Hitting a woman, your moms must be so proud."

"Don't you talk about my mother…..." The leader trailed off as he went to deliver a kick before they heard footsteps approaching them. "What the…."

"Zadzwonilem na policie, rozsadnie byloby odejsc." Raven said calmly and the youths looked at her confused. "Don't you speak Polish? I just said, "I have called the police, you would be wise to leave."." Raven clarified and the youths' eyes widened before they ran off, Chelsea rubbed her aching jaw before Raven walked up to her. "Are you hurt?"

"My ego's hurt the most." Chelsea grumbled before Raven offered her a hand and pulled her up when she accepted it. "Do I know you?"

"We met during Battle City, briefly." Raven responded as she started to walk off. "We will meet again Chelsea, but you will find a package waiting for you back home."

"A package?" Chelsea blinked but before she could enquire further Raven was gone, shaking her head Chelsea got her phone out and called home. "Hey Beth, I'm going to be hone late."

"How late are we talking?" Beth asked over the phone, since Battle City they had moved in together in Woodstock, Illinois. "If your stopping to get pizza on the way back, don't, I've got dinner in the oven."

"I wish I did, I got attacked by a bunch of homophobic idiots, caught them as one of them was pissing on my bike." Chelsea sighed and Beth gasped in shock. "I'm okay, a mystery woman intervened, sounded like she was from Eastern Europe but that's not important, did you receive a package today?"

"Package? Let me check." Beth responded before waking to the front door. "Yeah, I got a big one this afternoon, huh, that's weird, it's from Industrial Illusions."

"I2?" Chelsea asked before frowning. "Don't open it until I get back, the woman who saved me said there'd be a package waiting for me."

"Well, that's not suspicious," Beth responded sarcastically before shaking her head. "Did you get a name at least?"

"No, but I think I recognize her from Battle City." Chelsea responded as she shook her head before she heard a cop car pulling up. "Gotta go, she said she had called the cops on those idiots, got a statement to give and all."

"Sure, you want me to call you a cab? I can't imagine your bike smells that great." Beth responded and Chelsea nodded.

"That would be great, thanks." Chelsea responded before hanging up. _"Why do I get the feeling things are only going to get weirder as the week goes on?"_


	2. Downtime

It was the day after the Illinois regional championships, but the story was taking us to Domino City, the famous home of Yugi Motoh hadn't changed much in the years since the Orichalcos Incident but for those involved in that incident things had changed.

"Rex, Nala, dinner time." Chloe called out to her two dogs after pouring their dog food into separate bowls and setting them on the floor, Chloe hadn't changed much appearance wise since her days at Duel Academy, her dark brown hair still went down to her elbows and she had managed to keep herself in shape despite being famously terrible at PE during her time at Duel Academy, the two dogs came racing into the kitchen and Rex, being a typical Black Labrador, wasted no time in diving into his food bowl whilst the Burmese Mountain Dog Nala took her time with her food. _"Okay, dogs are being fed, I know the date of my next tournament, anything else I'm forgetting?"_

"Chloe, what time is dinner going on?" Lance's voice rang out from the living room of the couples one bedroom house and Chloe grinned before shaking her head.

"In about an hour, hopefully the cooking classes I've been taking helps." Chloe called back before walking around the two dogs and entering the living room, Lance was channel surfing on the coach looking for something to watch. "Anything good on?" Chloe asked as she sat next to her boyfriend who shook his head.

"If there was, I wouldn't be channel surfing." Lance responded before kissing his girlfriend briefly, Lance had grown out a goatee since leaving Duel Academy and whilst his job at the card shop required him to keep his hair in a ponytail since he was off work his shoulder length black hair was free. "Though you are better looking than anything on TV."

"Oh, shut up, you got that from that romantic comedy I made you sit through on Valentine's Day." Chloe teased him and Lance grinned before leaning in for another kiss which Chloe was all too happy to reciprocate, the kissing session quickly got more intense but just as Lance's hands went to remove Chloe's mid-riff bearing Tank-Top Chloe's eyes glanced up at the screen just in time. "Lance, we'll finish later." Chloe said as she broke the kiss.

"What? But it was just getting good!" Lance protested and Chloe motioned to the TV before turning up the volume.

"In breaking news from the Dueling World, Illinois Regional Champion Chelsea Cunningham was attacked in what she described as a homophobic attack." The news anchor said as Chelsea's picture appeared on the screen. "Chelsea, 23, commonly known as the Shock Rock Chick, has been open about her lesbian status which has made her the target for religious groups in Illinois, sources claim that a mysterious woman who Chelsea described as sounding Polish stopped the attack before she left."

"I can't believe it." Chloe commented as she shook her head and Lance nodded in agreement.

"I know right? I mean "The Shock Rock Chick" sounds like something I'd come up with for her!" Lance commented and Chloe face-palmed.

"Not what I meant, though you're not wrong there." Chloe responded as she shook her head. "What I meant was, I thought Illinois was nowhere near the Bible Belt?"

"And you'd be right but let's face it, there's plenty of religious nuts out there." Lance commented as he leaned back. "Makes me wonder why Chelsea didn't go back in the closet."

"This is Chelsea we're talking about, she hasn't exactly been shy about not hiding who she really is." Chloe responded as she shook her head. "I'll talk to her over Facebook Messenger after dinner, see how she's doing but she's always been a lot tougher than she looks, she'll probably brush it off."

"Yeah, I guess." Lance commented before they heard Rex barking, the couple looked up and saw Rex and Nala standing by the door to the kitchen with their leads in their mouths. "I told you we should've put their leads somewhere other than the kitchen."

"Yeah, well, until we get around to putting up that coat hanger, we'll have to make do." Chloe responded before she stood up and walked up to the two dogs. "You want to go walkies?" Chloe asked and the dogs reacted excitedly. "Okay, Lance, you had Rex last time, I'll have Rex this time and you can take Nala."

"Deal." Lance nodded before taking Nala's lead out of her mouth and Chloe picked up the lead that Rex had dropped when he barked.

*back in Illinois*

The first thing Chelsea did after waking up was to go retrieve her bike, fortunately for her she had got there just as the tow truck was getting ready to take it away and she was soon on her way home on her motorbike.

"_At least the smell's gone." _Chelsea thought as she rode her motorbike into the city of Woodstock, Illinois, after her graduation she returned to Chicago for a couple of years before moving to the nearby city where she had brought a house with Beth and the only time that she had returned to Chicago was for Chris's wedding which had happened a few months after her graduation. _"Fucking bullshit, I thought I'd be able to avoid that stuff by staying far away from the Bible Belt."_

"_Unfortunately, homophobia is a big problem nationwide." _A posh sounding voice rang out as Wattchimera's transparent form appeared next to her bike, Wattchimera was Chelsea's duel spirit partner who she had met in Duel Academy and whilst they did argue occasionally it was a mutually beneficial partnership. _"It just seems more concentrated in the Bible Belt, just be glad you're not the regional champion in that area."_

"_I'm a lesbian metalhead who loves horror movies, stands for everything Republicans are against and stopped following the Christian religion after I turned twenty one." _Chelsea responded as she briefly glanced over at Wattchimera. _"I wouldn't survive five minutes in the Bible Belt, Chicago may have it's problems but it'll still my home city!"_

"_On that, we're agreed." _Wattchimera responded with a nod. _"Did you ever get around to opening that package?"_

"_No, Beth kept me occupied by doting over me, by the time we had retired to our bedroom for sex I had completely forgotten about the package and only remembered when I spotted it on my way out this morning." _Chelsea responded before she spotted her house closing in alongside a familiar car. _"Should've known he'd stop by after last night's incident hit the airwaves."_

"_He is your brother, I'd be concerned too if I was in his shoes." _Wattchimera responded before disappearing from Chelsea's side as she pulled her bike into the driveway, she saw her older brother Chris alongside two other familiar faces and grinned broadly before removing her bike helmet and putting the bike in neutral.

"Auntie!" The young girl greeted her as Chelsea got off the bike and she knelt to greet her niece. "You were awesome last night!"

"Thanks Jasmine." Chelsea responded with a grin as she ruffled her niece's hair, unlike the rest of her family Jasmine had red hair which she had inherited from her mother but other than that there was no mistaking the family resemblance. "Have you been keeping up with your studies?"

"We wouldn't have brought her if she hadn't." Jasmine's mother spoke up and Chelsea stood up to greet her sister in law. "Congrats on the win last night Chelsea, pity it got tainted."

"Yeah, fortunately those idiots didn't account for the fact that the United Centre has CCTV." Chelsea responded with a sigh before grinning. "How have you been Monica?"

"Jasmine's been her usual self, that should tell you everything you need to know." Monica responded with a shrug as she glanced down at her daughter. "How about you?"

"Aside from yesterday's championship match and the incident, things have been normal." Chelsea responded with a shrug as she leaned against her bike. "If it weren't for the incident afterwards, I'd say that the package from I2 was the most exciting thing that's happened this week."

"Yeah, we saw that after Beth let us in." Chris chimed in and Chelsea grinned before greeting her older brother with a fist bump. "She hasn't touched it since you left to get your bike, though she is slightly annoyed that you left without giving her a chance to cook breakfast."

"Yeah well, if I didn't leave when I did the bike would've been towed by the time I got there." Chelsea responded with a frown as she glanced over at her motorbike, her train of thought was interrupted when she heard her stomach rumble and sweat-dropped.

"Auntie Chelsea's tummy is making funny noises." Jasmine giggled and Chelsea shook her head.

"That just means I'm hungry Jasmine." Chelsea responded before turning to her brother and sister in law. "You guys staying for breakfast?"

"We where going to get something to eat at a diner, but Beth insisted that she treat us." Monica responded with a shrug and Chelsea nodded. "Then again, I did enjoy Beth's food the last time I ate here so I'm not complaining."

"_And if Jasmine wasn't here, I'd make a crass joke about Beth's food not being the only thing I enjoy eating as far as she's concerned." _Chelsea thought as she glanced over at her three year old niece. _"Then again, Jasmine is three years old, so she probably won't know what I'm talking about, unless they've started giving sex education at her primary school and if they had I would've sped over to the school and asked just what the hell the principle was thinking when he approved that!" _Chelsea thought before shaking her head. "I don't think we should keep Beth waiting for much longer."

"Agreed." Chris nodded in agreement before they entered the house Chelsea shared with Beth.

*back at Domino City*

Following the walk Chloe and Lance ended up being called into work by her stepdad due to there being a large influx of customers that evening and after stopping at home to have a quick dinner they arrived at the Richardson game shop.

"_Good, they're here." _Raven thought as she glanced up at the door and saw Lance and Chloe entering the shop and rushing over to Chloe's stepdad. "Be ready with your camera should either of them end up in a duel." Raven whispered to the cameraman who nodded once he saw them for himself.

"I still don't know why we couldn't wait for their next tournament." The cameraman grumbled under his breath and Raven looked up. "Just saying, a guy with a camera in a store full of kids that aren't his raises a few red flags."

"As I said yesterday, Sophia signs our paychecks, that is more than enough for me to not ask questions and I suggest you do the same." Raven responded as she glanced up at Chloe. "Quote the Raven, nevermore."

"_Why do I always get stuck with the nutjobs?" _The cameraman wondered mentally before he glanced at some of the cards on display.

"Thank you, don't forget to come to the tournament on Saturday." Chloe thanked the customer who had just brought a Booster Pack, once the young customer had left, she glanced over at Lance who has having a quick game without the aid of a duel disk with a customer who was a beginner. _"Can't remember the last time I had a duel without a hologram, it was probably when I was still at Duel Academy." _Chloe thought before another customer approached with a booster pack and she rang him up. _"Then again, there isn't much call for old fashioned duels on the Pro-Leagues."_

"_Indeed, your stepdad's shop seems to be the only one that does them." _A female voice rang out before Chloe's Duel Spirit Partner Silent Magician Level 8 appeared next to her in her transparent form. _"Still, you should practice for the next tournament."_

"_And as soon as I can stop serving customers and join Lance at the table, I'll do that." _Chloe thought as she glanced out towards the large que of customers. _"I know I2 just came out with a new set but it was never this busy before."_

"_Probably has something to do with the fact that the owner's daughter and her boyfriend work here and are quite famous." _Silent Magician pointed out and Chloe grinned before she served another customer, as the day dragged on Chloe was just about done by the time the last customer was ready to be served, once he had been served, Chloe checked the time on her phone.

"_8:00pm already, man the day has just flown by." _Chloe thought with a sigh as she glanced out towards the shop, aside from Raven and her cameraman there were only a few customers left including a boy and a girl in their late teens who were going through some booster packs. _"I'm beginning to think that I'll never get a duel in at this rate."_

"_They'll always be another…." _Silent Magician trailed off as she saw the two teenagers make their way towards the door quickly after pocketing a few booster packs each. _"I don't remember them paying."_

"_Your right, they haven't." _Chloe responded before she stepped out from behind the counter and motioned for Lance to follow her as they reached the two teens. "Excuse me, you have to pay for those."

"What are you talking about?" The male teen asked as he turned to Chloe. "I don't have any booster packs on me and neither does she."

"Don't act dumb, I saw you pocket those booster packs." Chloe responded as she folded her arms and Lance frowned once he realized that Chloe was right. "Stealing from a local, family run business, I have to say, that's pretty low of you."

"These packs cost too much money!" The girl protested and Chloe shook her head. "You won't miss a few bucks, will you?"

"_If I had a dollar for every time, I heard that excuse since I started working at the shop." _Chloe thought before getting an idea. "How about this, you two duel me and Lance in a tag team duel with Duel Disks outside, you win, we'll pretend this never happened, we win? Well, either you pay for the packs or put them back or we're calling the cops."

"How are we supposed to leave the shop without setting off the alarm?" The boy asked before Raven stepped forward with her hand outstretched.

"Hand them over." Raven said simply and the two shoplifters shared a look. "I'll look after the packs whilst you duel, on the condition that my cameraman here records the action."

"Why would we do that?" Lance asked as he turned to Raven who remained motionless.

"I'm doing it for my YouTube channel." Raven responded after a moment and Chloe and Lance shared a look. "I'm confident that you two will win but this will streamline things, will it not?"

"I guess so." The boy responded before they handed the packs to Raven who pocketed them for the time being.

"Thanks for your help." Chloe nodded towards Raven as she looked her over. "Ms.?"

"Call me Raven." Raven responded as she folded her arms. "Only a few people know my true name and I prefer to keep it that way, quote the raven, nevermore."

"_I could've sworn I've seen her somewhere before." _Chloe thought before they stepped out into the side alley. "So, do you two have name or are we just calling you Thief A and Thief B?"

"I'm Sam, he's Alex." The girl responded as she motioned between her and Alex. "What tag team rules are we using?"

"Standard rules, no attacks until everyone has gone first and just because a partner got knocked out of the game doesn't mean the team's lost." Lance responded and the two teens nodded before they activated their duel disks. _"Hope you know what you're doing Chloe."_

"Raven, the camera's rolling." The cameraman said into the earpiece and Raven nodded. "Did you deliver the packages?"

"Chloe and Lance's packages are waiting for them when they return home." Raven responded whilst the four duelists drew their opening hands.

"I'll go first, then Sam, then Lance and then Alex." Chloe commented once she had looked over her hand and the three other duelists nodded in agreement before Chloe looked over her hand. "I set two cards facedown and I summon Gemini Elf!" Chloe announced as she set the two cards down before playing the card and the twin elves appeared on the field (4/1900/900). "That ends my turn." Chloe announced and Sam drew her card.

"_Man, how did Alex talk me into this? I wanted to wait until I got my pocket money, but Alex couldn't wait!" _Sam thought before going over her hand. "Err, okay, I set one card facedown and I summon Beautiful Headhuntress!" Sam announced as she played the card and whilst Chloe raised an eyebrow the beautiful female samurai appeared on the field (4/1600/800). "That ends my turn." Sam announced and Lance drew his card.

"_Beautiful Headhuntress? Who plays that nowadays?" _Lance wondered as he glanced over at Sam's monster. _"Guess I'm too used to competing on the pro-leagues." _Lance decided before playing a card. "I activate Heaven's Lost Property! Now we'll all draw three cards and discard two!" Lance announced as he and the other three duelists drew their cards, Chloe and Lance wasted no time in deciding what cards to discard whilst their opponents took a little longer before discarding a card. "Now I remove one of the cards I just sent to the graveyard to Special Summon Inferno!"

"_Lance isn't wasting any time." _Chloe noticed as the small red flame appeared on the field (4/1100/1900). _"I know they tried to rob dad's store but if I'm right, well, I hope Lance doesn't go too hard on them."_

"I sacrifice Inferno to summon one of my old favorites, Thestalos, the Firestorm Monarch!" Lance announced as he played the card and Inferno disappeared from the field, in its place stood the mighty monarch of fire ready for battle (6/2400/1200). "This activates Thestalos's effect, you both discard a card at random and if it's a monster that monster's level comes out of your life-points times a hundred." Lance added and Sam and Alex held out their hands to him. "Sam, you discard the last card in your hand, Alex, you discard the second card in your hand."

"Oh man! My Skull Red Bird!" Sam groaned as she held up the monster (4/1550/1200) and Chloe's frown deepened as it set in whilst Sam's life-points dropped to 7600 after Thestalos threw a fireball at her.

"I didn't fair much better." Alex sighed as he held up Masaki, the Legendary Swordsman (4/1100/1100) which he discarded before taking four hundred life-points of damage from Thestalos bringing his life-points down to the same amount as Sam's.

"Hold on a sec." Chloe said as she folded her arms and the three duelists turned to her. "Sam, Alex, be honest, how long have you two been dueling?"

"Huh?" Sam asked before she shared a look with Alex. "Err, well…..."

"You just started playing the game, haven't you?" Chloe asked and they shared a look before nodding reluctantly. "Is that why you were shoplifting? Because you realize Lance was running tutorial duels for inexperienced duelists, right?"

"His duels were taking too long." Alex responded, and Chloe turned to him. "We were going to put them back once we got a feel for the game?"

"_If Chelsea was here, I'd bet she'd be giving them a brutally honest reality check based on her own experiences in juvenile hall." _Chloe thought before sighing. _"I guess it's up to me, kinda fitting since they seem to be the same age Chelsea was when she was sent to juvenile hall." _Chloe thought before shaking her head. "You were breaking the law do you know what that would've meant for you if anyone else had caught you?" Chloe wondered before getting an idea. "Hold on a sec."

"Huh?" Sam asked as she watched Chloe get her phone out. "You're not calling the cops, are you?"

"If I wanted to call the cops, I would've done it by now." Chloe responded before calling Chelsea's number and putting it on Facetime when she answered. "Hey Chelsea, long time no see."

"I'll say!" Chloe's former roommate commented, and Chloe grinned. "What's up?"

"Me and Lance are in a tag team duel against two amateur duelists who we caught shoplifting." Chloe responded before frowning. "They don't seem to realize the weight of their decisions however, care to give them a crash course."

"My pleasure." Chelsea responded with a sigh before Chloe pointed her phone at Sam and Alex. "Okay, I'm going to put this as gently as I can, I'm Chelsea Cunningham, current Illinois Regional Champion, old friend of Chloe and Lance's and I served a year in juvenile hall when I was around your ages." Chelsea added before taking a deep breath. "That may not seem like much but trust me, it felt like it went on for a lot longer and I had my arm broken a few days into my stay, my leg was also broken and believe me, that wasn't fun."

"But we won't get caught." Alex responded and Chelsea sighed.

"Chloe, no offense but you are being way to kind with these guys." Chelsea responded as she shook her head. "I got caught right away because I was dumb enough to punch someone right after they had beaten me in a tournament, because Chloe's being so kind you may get away this time but you will eventually be caught, I don't know how different the legal system in Domino City is compared to the American Legal System but take it from me, if you keep this up you'll have no future."

"You're the Illinois regional champion and you had a record." Sam responded and Chelsea shook her head.

"Because I was smart enough to not repeat that mistake, you seem like smart kids so take it from me, quit whilst your ahead, I don't know what Chloe will do to you once the duel's over but if she lets you go, take this as a wake-up call." Chelsea responded before Chloe turned her phone back around. "If you guys are ever in the Chicago area, stop by Woodstock! That's where me and Beth live nowadays, also be on the lookout for a package from I2."

"We will." Chloe responded before frowning. "What kind of package?"

"I don't know, me and Beth are about to open the package I got." Chelsea responded with a shrug. "But even so, keep an eye out for it."

"We will, thanks Chelsea." Chloe responded before hanging up and pocketing her phone. "So, what do you guys want to do?" Chloe asked as she folded her arms. "Based on the cards you've played so far, I'm guessing your playing starter decks? Me and Lance compete on the pro-leagues, just warning you now, your decks don't stand a chance."

"Never know until you try." Alex shrugged in response and Chloe sighed. "Anything else Lance?"

"I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Lance announced as he set the cards and Alex drew his card. _"Wonder if Chloe is seeing some of her in Alex and Sam?" _Lance wondered as he glanced over at his girlfriend. _"Off course, Chloe has never broken the law but still!"_

"I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode!" Alex announced once he had a good look over his hand and his three set cards appeared on the field. "And I end my turn." Alex announced and Chloe drew her card.

"_This almost feels cruel." _Chloe thought as she went over her hand. _"Yeah, they tried to shoplift from the family shop but there was once a time where I was in their shoes, okay granted I never got desperate enough to break the law but my stepdad owning a game shop helped a lot with that." _Chloe thought before going over her hand. _"Oh geez, do I really want to unleash Colossal Fighter on these kids?" _Chloe thought as she realized that she had the cards needed to summon the monster.

"_It's the only way they'll learn." _Silent Magician responded and Chloe sighed.

"_I guess your right." _Chloe thought before playing a card. "I activate Reinforcement of the Army! This allows me to search my deck for a level four or lower Warrior Type Monster and add it to my hand!" Chloe announced before she started inputting commands into her duel disk, she added the card to her hand and waited for the deck to auto-shuffle. "Next, I remove Reinforcement of the Army from play to Special Summon Spell Striker." Chloe added as she played the card and the small warrior dressed as Thor appeared on the field (3/600/200).

"He's cute." Sam commented as she stared at the young warrior. "But he won't last long."

"_Wasn't sure if she was talking about Lance or Spell Striker for a moment there." _Chloe thought as a sweat-drop rolled down the back of her head. "Your right, but not for the reasons you think, next I summon the monster I just searched for, Marauding Captain!" Chloe added as she played the card and the brunette warrior appeared on the field ready for battle (3/1200/400). "When he's normal summoned, I can Special Summon another Level 4 or lower monster from my hand."

"Three monsters in the same turn?!" Sam asked as Chloe played the card. "Maybe we are out of our league."

"I did warn you, I special summon Torapart!" Chloe responded as she played the card and the small, strange warrior appeared on the field (2/600/200). "Tell me, have either or you seen a Synchro Summon up close?" Chloe asked and Sam and Alex shared looks before shaking their heads. "You have now, I tune Torapart with Marauding Captain and Spell Striker!" Chloe announced as she retrieved the card from her extra deck and the three monsters leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon. "I Synchro Summon Colossal Fighter!" Chloe announced as she played the card and the massive warrior appeared on the field ready for battle (8/2800/1000).

"Oh man, he's so strong!" Alex winced before Colossal Fighter's attack points went up to 3400. "Where did the extra attack points come from."

"Our graveyards." Chloe responded as she held up the contents of her graveyard. "Colossal Fighter gains one hundred attack points for each warrior in our graveyards, I used three warriors to Synchro Summon him and thanks to Lance's use of Heaven's Lost Property I already had two in the graveyard, and I know that he made you discard a warrior using Thestalos's effect." Chloe added before she returned the cards to her graveyard. "And he's about to get stronger, Colossal Fighter, attack Beautiful Headhuntress!" Chloe commanded and the fighter charged up to the Headhuntress before smashing her with his fist bringing Sam's life-points down to 5400. "You really should've quit whilst you were ahead, since Beautiful Headhuntress is a Warrior Type Monster Colossal Fighter gets even stronger."

"You always said that you'd never give up as long as you had life-points left." Sam responded as she braced herself. "And I still have life-points left!"

"Wait, are you a fan of mine?" Chloe asked and Sam hesitated before nodding. _"Man, now I feel even worse about this." _Chloe thought as she shook her head before pointing to Gemini Elf. "Go easy on her Gemini Elves." Chloe commanded and the elves fired twin spells at the young duelist bringing her life-points down to 3500. "Tell me, are you any good at math?"

"Yeah, and I realize that unless I draw another monster I'm out of the game." Sam responded with a nod as she glanced up at Colossal Fighter. "Is it too late to back out?"

"See what you draw first, maybe you'll get really lucky and draw a Mirror Force or something similar." Chloe responded before going over her hand. _"Not that it would help her much, Colossal Fighter's self-revival effect would just bring him back and Torapart's effect means that traps can't be activated when a monster that he was used to Synchro Summon attacks." _Chloe thought before nodding to Sam. "It's your move." Chloe responded and Sam drew her card, however she took one look at it and surrendered. "You didn't draw anything good?"

"Skull Red Bird and Beautiful Headhuntress were the only monsters in my hand." Sam admitted before turning to Alex. "Sorry Alex but I know when I'm beat!"

"And if you were smart, you'd follow suit." Lance chimed in as he folded his arms. "Our monsters have a combined attack total of 7800, more than enough to finish you off in one turn if I draw another monster, take this and learn from it, maybe enroll in Duel Academy next year because it did wonders for Chloe during her rookie year but even Eddie Roberts himself would realize that his chances of winning here are slim."

"It's like Sam said, we'll never give up as long as we have life-points left." Alex responded and Lance shook his head.

"Except she just surrendered." Lance pointed out as he motioned to Sam who was gathering up her cards. "Are you sure about this?" Lance asked and Alex nodded before Lance drew his card, Lance let out a sigh before playing the card. "I summon Royal Firestorm Guards." Lance announced as he played the card and the strange demon appeared on the field (4/1700/1400). "Chloe, can I borrow your monsters?" Lance asked and Chloe nodded as Gemini Elf and Colossal Fighter went over to his side of the field. "Tell you what, after the duel we'll help you build your own decks, good ones, on the condition that you never shoplift again."

"But we're broke." Alex responded and Chloe shook her head.

"We'll pay for the cards and besides, I had a far more experienced duelist help me out with my deck during my rookie year and it improved my deck tremendously." Chloe responded as she folded her arms. "Take it from me, there aren't many Pro-Leaguers who will help you like this, we're only volunteering because I was like you during my rookie year, only difference is, I never broke the law." Chloe added and Sam and Alex shared looks.

"We'll take you up on the offer, but only if you don't press charges." Sam responded and Chloe sighed.

"I'll have to talk with my dad about that, he runs the shop and he'll have seen the CCTV footage by now." Chloe responded before she turned to Lance. "You know what to do."

"Yeah, I do, Royal Firestorm Guards, attack his facedown monster." Lance commanded and the demon flew toward the facedown Ryu-Kishin Powered (4/1600/1200) and quickly destroyed it. "Colossal Fighter, Gemini Elf, Thestalos, finish it." Lance commanded and the three monsters leapt into battle before attacking Alex and bringing his life-points down to zero. "How about we continue this conversation inside?" Lance offered once the holograms disappeared and the two teens nodded before returning to the shop.

"_That was disappointing." _Raven thought as she watched the footage, she heard footsteps and looked up seeing Chloe's dad stepping behind the counter. "Your daughter and her boyfriend stepped out to deal with some shoplifters, they'll be back shortly."

"I know, I saw the CCTV Footage." Scott responded with a nod before Raven walked up to him and handed over the packs Sam and Alex tried to steal. "Do you want to buy them?"

"No, these are the packs that they tried to steal." Raven responded before Scott took them. "Please tell your daughter that there is a package waiting for them when they return home." Raven added before she walked off. "Quote the Raven, nevermore."

"_Could've sworn I've seen that woman on TV somewhere." _Scott thought as Raven left the shop, shortly afterwards Chloe and Lance returned with Sam and Alex in tow. "I saw the footage, you don't have to explain anything Chloe."

"Good, that means we can cut to the chase." Chloe responded before she motioned to Sam and Alex who lowered their heads before stepping forward.

"We're sorry we tried to steal from your shop." Sam apologized and Alex nodded in agreement. "We were just so desperate to get our hands on good cards."

"That's fine, Chloe caught you before you could leave the shop, technically, no laws were broken." Scott responded with a nod before turning to his daughter. "What do you want to do with them?"

"We offered to go over their decks and help them build their own." Chloe responded as she got her purse out and Lance got his wallet out. "Whilst paying for the cards as they are broke."

"Don't worry about that, I'll cover it." Scott nodded in response and Chloe and Lance pocketed their purse and wallet respectively before going over to a table.

*meanwhile*

"So, what now?" The cameraman asked as he and Raven where driven away in a car. "I can't imagine Sophia being happy with that footage."

"I'll talk to her on the way over, in the meantime, our next destination is KaibaCorp's Domino Branch." Raven responded as she turned to the cameraman. "Sophia arranged for us to have visitor passes for the day."

"Right." The cameraman nodded before the car drove off.


	3. Welcome to the Corporate Jungle

It was late at night by the time Chloe and Lance got off shift however by that point the activity in the shop had quietened down allowing them to spend the rest of the night with Sam and Alex, by the time they returned home it was nearly midnight and the first thing Chloe noticed when she put the house keys in was that there were two packages waiting by the door.

"Well, Chelsea and dad weren't kidding." Chloe commented as she eyed the two packages, they were identical with the only difference being whose name was on it. "Good thing we left the dogs in the kitchen, otherwise they would've been ripped to shreds." Chloe added and Lance looked up.

"What do you think is in them?" Lance asked as Chloe unlocked and opened the door. "And come to think of it, how did that Raven chick get in our house? Last I checked, delivery persons don't dress like characters from a bad Matrix rip-off."

"She must've found the spare key or something." Chloe responded with a shrug before she entered the house, once they were both inside Chloe grabbed her package as did Lance. "Whatever it is, it sure is heavy."

"Yeah, and it's not everyday that you get packages from I2." Lance nodded before they heard the dogs crying from the kitchen. "I guess they know we're home."

"Let's get the door closed first, I'm not chasing after Rex all over the city again." Chloe responded as she shook her head and Lance nodded in agreement before they set the packages down in the lounge and Lance went off to close the door and let the dogs out of the kitchen. _"What do you think Silent Magician?"_

"_Well, the time you chased Rex all over the city was the best exercise you had all week." _Silent Magician responded and Chloe gave her a mock death glare as her duel spirit partner appeared next to her. _"As for the package I'm just as curious as you are."_

"_Well, at least we won't have to worry about someone's soul being stolen." _Chloe thought as she glanced at her package. _"For one thing, the Millennium Eye is buried somewhere in Egypt and I doubt the Millennium Items will be dug up any time soon given the recent troubles in that part of the world." _Chloe responded before the two dogs came racing into the lounge, Rex wasted no time in jumping onto the couch and licking Choe's facing whilst Nala sniffed the packages out of curiosity. "Down boy, down!" Chloe commanded and Rex quickly jumped off the couch and sat in front of her. _"Rex just turned eight and Nala is turning seven later this year, yet they still act like puppies."_

"_Won't be long until they are both senior dogs." _Silent Magician responded and Chloe shook her head before Lance entered the room with a pair of scissors in his hands.

"_Don't remind me." _Chloe responded before turning to Lance. "I'm guessing that's to open the packages?"

"Figured it would be easier this way." Lance responded with a nod before sitting next to his girlfriend. "Why is your make-up smudged up on the left side of your face?" Lance asked and Chloe said nothing, instead merely pointing to Rex who was currently laying on his back with his paws in the air. "That explains a lot, so, ladies first?"

"Sounds like a plan." Chloe nodded before Lance handed her the scissors and she started opening the package.

*the next day*

The story now takes us across town to the Domino branch of Kaibacorp, the rank and file workers were hard at work as usual and that went double for the CEO's children.

"Next tournament is next month?" Tyler asked his agent over the phone whilst Miranda went over the duel disk she had been working on, the Kaiba siblings were much the same as they were when they left Duel Academy, Tyler still had his shoulder length dark blown hair whilst Miranda had let her short black hair grow out a bit. "Have you talked to Miranda's agent yet? Yes? Okay, that shouldn't be a problem Tom, send me the details later, when I'm off work."

"So, where is he sending us this time?" Miranda asked as she looked up. "Haven't spoken to Charlene since the last tournament but I'm guessing she'll get in contact with me soon."

"Sounds like it, as for your question, he's managed to book us in a tournament in Sydney Australia, said he'd send over the details later." Tyler responded as he turned to his step-sister. "So, that duel disk working okay?"

"Should be, I still haven't figured out what caused it to malfunction in the test duel against the Duel Robot." Miranda commented with a frown as she went over the Duel Disk. "Don't get me wrong, it was amusing to see The Unhappy Maiden bitch-slap Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon to death but at the same time, if errors like that keep popping up then the designers need to go back to the drawing board before it gets released to the general public."

"At least it's more of an amusing malfunction rather than a life-threatening one." Tyler responded before one of Kaiba's assistants ran up to them. "Has father caught wind of what happened during the test duel Roland?"

"No, but he does want to see you." Roland responded as he shook his head and Miranda and Tyler shared uncertain looks before leaving the testing area and following Roland to their father's office, once Roland opened the door Tyler did a double take.

"What's the matter Tyler? Unhappy to see me?" Sophia asked as she stepped forward, she had been standing beside Kaiba's desk whilst Seto had been sitting in his chair. "We haven't spoken since the Orichalcos incident."

"Yes, well, we have been busy." Tyler responded with a frown on his face. "You've been running I2, I've been getting my career on the Pro-Leagues off the ground, doesn't leave a lot of room for socializing."

"What do you want Sophia?" Miranda asked as she stepped into the room. "Don't you have more important things to do back at your company's headquarters? I know I2 recently released a new set of Duel Monsters cards."

"That is out of my hands, I signed off on the release and everything associated with it is now the hands of the marketing team." Sophia responded as she shook her head. "As for what I'm doing here, well I have some things to discuss with Kaiba but more importantly, I want to see you two duel each other."

"Come again?" Tyler asked with a raised eyebrow. "You know, if you wanted to watch that match, you could've just watched the DVD release of the Las Vegas Battle City Tournament and our match in the semi-finals."

"True, but that was several years ago, was it not?" Sophia asked as she leaned against the desk. "I know better than anyone that more cards have come out since that tournament including support for your respective decks." Sophia added before grinning. "Oh, and there was one other thing, someone in my employ will be on hand to record it."

"Okay, now I'm really suspicious." Miranda commented as she folded her arms. "You may be nothing like your stepfather Sophia but like him, you never do anything without a reason, why do you want to watch me kick my brother's ass in a duel?"

"I have my reasons, you are right in that regard." Sophia nodded as she folded arms. "But those reasons are top secret and won't be revealed until the end of the week, besides, aren't you curious to see just who the better duelist between you two is?"

"I thought that was already determined when I beat her in the Battle City Semi-Finals." Tyler responded earning a playful glare from Miranda. "But fine, you want to watch us duel so badly? We'll humor you."

"But only this one time." Miranda responded and Sophia nodded.

"That's fair enough, I'll catch up with you two later, Roland will take you to the Duel Arena." Sophia responded with a nod and the Kaiba siblings left Seto's office. "So, Seto, how goes the preparations?"

"Everything is going according to plan." Seto responded with a nod as he glanced over at Sophia. "That said, I have some questions about this lacky of yours, where exactly did you find Raven? She came out of nowhere during the Las Vegas Battle City Tournament, took the defending champion to the limit and then disappeared as soon as she arrived, not even some of the most prolific sponsors on the pro-leagues could track her down."

"Did they try Poland?" Sophia asked and Seto frowned. "I know the Polish scene is still in it's infancy, but she wasn't that hard to track down when I went there, not hard to miss a duelist with her distinctive appearance."

"If you were able to track her down, then you know her real name." Seto said simply and Sophia shook her head.

"That's the only thing I don't know about her, not even the locals in the village she lives in know her real name, most I could dig up was that she had no family, living or dead, and that she kept to herself." Sophia added before frowning. "I've never even seen her out of that trench coat of hers, can't imagine it being comfortable in warmer climates."

"You know so little about her, yet you trust Raven to deal with this information gathering and package delivering?" Seto asked and Sophia shook her head.

"Trust is too strong a word, I know she can get the job done and that's good enough for me." Sophia responded before she went to leave the office. "And as long as I sign her paychecks, she remains loyal to I2." Sophia added before leaving the office.

*at the duel field*

It wasn't long before Tyler and Miranda reached the duel arena where Raven and the cameraman were waiting for them, whilst the cameraman sat in the stands with his camera at the ready Raven just stood leaning against the far wall with her arms crossed.

"I see that the famous Kaiba siblings have finally made their appearance." Raven commented bluntly as she glanced at Tyler and Miranda. "You may call me Raven, my associate over there is called Charles and he'll be the cameraman this afternoon."

"Didn't you compete at the Las Vegas Battle City Tournament?" Miranda asked with a frown as she walked up to the shorter woman. "What are you doing under Sophia's employ exactly."

"Getting paid." Raven responded simply as she glanced up at the taller woman. "If you want an actual answer, I've been under her employ for years acting as a talent scout of sorts, among other roles." Raven added before the Polish woman turned to Tyler. "So, as I understand it, you are to duel your brother, yes?"

"That is correct." Tyler nodded before he glanced over at Miranda. "Though I am curious to see if you are any better than you were at Battle City."

"Is that a challenge I hear?" Raven asked before chuckling. "I'm afraid I must decline, I left my Duel Disk at the hotel, but I can assure you, you would stand no chance against me."

"Big talk from someone who didn't even make it past the first round of the Semi-Finals." Miranda commented and Raven remained motionless. "Well, if you are telling the truth about leaving your duel disk behind, then I guess Tyler's challenge will have to wait." Miranda added before she turned to Tyler. "I'm ready when you are Tyler."

"Likewise." Tyler responded before the door opened again and Sophia entered the duel arena. "Fashionably late as always Sophia."

"You know me, I always like to watch stepsiblings go at it!" Sophia responded before quickly face-palming. "How about we just pretend that sentence never happened?"

"I agree." Tyler responded before he went to the opposite side of the room from Miranda and they activated their duel disks. "Ready for a repeat of our duel at Battle City Miranda?"

"If by that, you mean "ready to correct that mistake" then yes, I am." Miranda nodded in response before they drew their opening hands. "So, Charles was it? Are you recording or not?"

"Huh?" Charles asked before quickly getting his camera ready and hitting record. "Yeah, I'm ready!"

"You weren't asleep, where you Charles?" Sophia asked as she leaned forward on the railing and Charles gulped. "Because I'd like to remind you who's signing your paychecks if you were."

"_And I thought dad was strict with his employees." _Tyler and Miranda thought simultaneously before they turned their attention back to each other.

"Ladies first." Miranda insisted before she went over her hand. "I set two cards facedown and I summon Blue-Eyes Wyvern!" Miranda announced as she played the cards and a small wyvern that looked identical to the Blue-Eyes White Dragon appeared on the field with a roar (4/1600/1200). "That ends my turn." Miranda announced and Tyler drew his card. "Try not to defeat yourself with Brain Research Lab this time."

"I'm never living down my defeat at Amanda Cortreau's hands, aren't I?" Tyler asked and Miranda quickly shook her head. "Or my defeat at Chelsea's hands during her graduation duel?"

"No but considering how well she's done for herself since graduation, I'll let it slide." Miranda responded and Tyler nodded.

"In any case, I set two cards facedown and I summon Brain Research Tech!" Tyler announced as he played the cards and a man in a scientist's coat appeared on the field though he had a strange helmet on his head (1/0/0). "Your move."

"_Didn't take them long to bust out some of the new monsters." _Sophia thought as she folded her arms. _"Leaving Brain Research Tech in attack mode is a risk however, I hope Tyler knows what he's doing because he should know Miranda's deck just as well as she does." _Sophia thought before glancing over at Miranda. _"After all, it is basically a modern version of her dad's deck."_

"I activate Cards of Consonance! I discard one weak Dragon Type Tuner Monster from my hand and in exchange I draw two cards." Miranda announced before she discarded the card and drew her two cards. "But more on that later! Blue-Eyes Wyvern, attack Brain Research Tech!" Miranda commanded and the small dragon prepared its own version of the attack made famous by Seto Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon…...

"I activate my Trap Card Feedback Loop!" Tyler responded as his facedown card flipped up. "As you have just attacked a Psychic Type Monster, I control this trap card destroys both the attacking and defending monster." Tyler added as Brain Research Tech and Blue-Eyes Wyvern's holograms shattered. "This triggers my Brain Research Tech's effect, allowing me to activate Brain Research Lab from my deck." Tyler added as he started inputting commands and the scenery changed to the ominous looking lab.

"That's not the only effect Feedback Loop triggered, when Blue-Eyes is destroyed by battle or card effect I can search my deck for a Blue-Eyes card and add it to my hand." Miranda responded before she started inputting commands and added the card to her hand. "I end my turn but not before the effect of the monster I discarded triggers." Miranda added as an all to familiar roar filled the room and Blue-Eyes White Dragon appeared on the field (8/3000/2500). "You can thank White Stone of Ancients for making this possible."

"You'll forgive me if I seem ungrateful for that." Tyler deadpanned as he drew his card. "I activate Telepathic Power Boost! As I have a Psychic Type Monster in my graveyard, I can draw three cards." Tyler added before he drew his three cards. "However, if I don't use them all by my end phase then I'll have to pay three thousand points of damage, not a problem with my Brain Research Lab on the field." Tyler added before going over his hand.

"_Still making the same mistakes he made against Chelsea and Amanda." _Sophia thought as she shook her head. _"And given the theme of Miranda's deck, it's only a matter of time before she draws Mystical Space Typhoon or A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon."_

"As you control more monsters than I do, I can Special Summon Psychic General!" Tyler announced as he played the card and the Psychic in the general's outfit appeared on the field (5/0/2000). "For my normal summon, I bring out Psychic Commander!" Tyler added as he played another card and Psychic Commander appeared on the field (3/1400/800). "I tune my two monsters together!" Tyler called out as Psychic Commander and Psychic General leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon. "I Synchro Summon Thought Ruler Archfiend!" Tyler announced as he played the card and the massive, ugly archfiend appeared on the field (8/2700/2300).

"Looks like we've got a clash of our best monsters." Miranda commented as she folded her arms. "But we both know that on his own, Thought Ruler Archfiend stands no chance against my dragon."

"That won't be a problem for much longer, I activate Psychic General's effect, taking half of Blue-Eyes White Dragon's attack points and adding them to Thought Ruler Archfiend." Tyler added as Thought Ruler Archfiend's attack points shot up to 4200. "Thought Ruler Archfiend, attack Blue-Eyes White Dragon now!" Tyler commanded and the Archfiend prepared his attack…...

"If dad knew that I let his signature dragon go down that easily, I'd never hear the end of it." Miranda responded as her facedown card flipped up. "I activate Interdimensional Matter Transporter! This removes Blue-Eyes White Dragon from play for the rest of the turn." Miranda added as the dragon disappeared from the field.

"So, you'd rather take over four thousand points of damage on turn three? Fine by me, Thought Ruler Archfiend, attack her life-points directly!" Tyler commanded and the archfiend prepared another attack….

"That won't be so easy either! I negate the attack and end the battle phase by Special Summoning Battle Fader from my hand." Miranda announced as she played the card and the small fiend appeared on the field (1/0/0) stopping Thought Ruler Archfiend's attack in its tracks. "And you know as well as I do that Psychic General's effect is only good as long as the monster you used him to Synchro Summon with is the one attacking."

"And that Psychic General's attack boost lasts as long as the turn." Tyler nodded with a frown on his face. "I end my turn, as I didn't use all the cards, I drew at the start of the turn Brain Research Lab gains three counters." Tyler added as three pieces of machinery came to life. "And Blue-Eyes White Dragon returns to the field." Tyler added as the massive dragon returned to the field with a roar. "Do I even need to ask how your turn is going to go?"

"You know as well as I do that this game can be unpredictable." Miranda pointed out before she drew her card. "And now, things have gotten worse for you! I tribute Battle Fader to summon Kaiser Vorse Raider!" Miranda announced as she played the card and Battle Fader disappeared from the field only to be replaced with the light blue version of the Beast Warrior used by her father (5/1900/1200). "Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack Thought Ruler Archfiend! White Lightning!" Miranda commanded and the dragon opened its maw to unleash its infamous attack on Thought Ruler Archfiend destroying him and bringing Tyler's life-points down to 7700. "And I'm not done! Kaiser Vorse Raider, attack his life-points directly!" Miranda commanded and the Beast Warrior charged at Tyler before slashing him with his halberd bringing his life-points down to 5600. "I was expecting more of a fight Tyler, have to say, I'm disappointed!"

"If you wanted a fight, all you needed to do was attack." Tyler responded as he got back to his feet and his facedown card flipped up. "I activate Psychic Resonance! As I have just taken over a thousand points of Battle Damage, I can Special Summon one Psychic Type Tuner Monster from my graveyard with his effects negated." Tyler added as Psychic Commander returned to the field. "You have the lead for now, but it won't be long until I turn this around."

"We'll see about that, for now I end my turn." Miranda announced and Tyler drew his card.

"_It didn't take long for this duel to turn less than ideal." _Tyler thought as he glanced up at Miranda's two monsters. _"Right now, the only monster that I can defend with is Psychic Commander and with his effect negated I can't do much with him." _Tyler thought before looking at his drawn card. _"Or can I?" _Tyler thought before setting the card. "I set one card facedown and end my turn." Tyler announced and Miranda frowned before drawing her card.

"_And here I was worried that Tyler was going for another Synchro Summon." _Miranda thought before shaking her head. _"The only Synchro Monster he's get that poses even a remote threat to my dragon is Thought Ruler Archfiend and I've already dealt with him, it's just a matter of time before I win this duel." _Miranda thought before pointing to Psychic Commander. "Blue-Eyes attack Psychic Commander now! White Lightning!" Miranda commanded and the dragon opened its maw again.

"I was counting on that!" Tyler responded as his facedown card flipped up. "I activate Psychic Power Surge! Since you just attacked a Psychic Type Monster this trap card will destroy all monsters you control as long as I pay a thousand life-points for each monster destroyed this way." Tyler explained and Miranda's eyes widened as a large explosion filled the room destroying Kaiser Vorse Raider and Blue-Eyes White Dragon, however the machinery in the lab remained in tact as two more machines came to life. "Now I can turn things around!"

"_If he keeps this up, his Field Spell will have enough counters to wipe out his life-points." _Miranda thought as she glanced around the lab. _"Then again, I might not need to get to that point, I'd just need to destroy his lab and then summon any level four monster in my deck, then this duel will be over!" _Miranda thought before looking over her hand. "I end my turn." Miranda announced and Tyler drew his card.

"I activate Emergency Teleport to Special Summon Risebell, the Star Adjuster to the field!" Tyler announced as he played the card and the female psychic type monster appeared on the field (3/800/800). "This activates Risebell's effect, allowing me to increase Psychic Commander's level by three." Tyler added as Psychic Commander's level increased to six. "Now I tune my two monsters together to create a new addition to my deck!"

"_A Level Nine Synchro Summon." _Miranda thought as the two monsters leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon. _"This could be trouble."_

"I Synchro Summon Telepath Overlord!" Tyler announced as he played the card and a new monster appeared on the field, it was a massive, ugly monster that was black in color and very intimidating (9/3000/2500). "Telepath Overlord, attack her life-points directly!" Tyler commanded and the monster launched a beam of energy at Miranda bringing her life-points down to 5000. "And just like that, the lead is mine."

"Perhaps, but for what cost? I activate Damage Gate!" Miranda responded as her trap card flipped up and she discarded a monster. "Do I really need to tell you what monster I'm bringing back?" Miranda asked as the Blue-Eyes White Dragon returned to the field.

"And if it could do something other than match my monster point for point, I'd be worried." Tyler responded as he folded his arms. "But speaking of my monster, his effect activates, as I destroyed a monster in battle this turn you will take one thousand points of damage for each Psychic Type Monster in my graveyard." Tyler added before grinning. "I believe that's game."

"Nice try, but it's not over yet! I remove the monster I discarded for Damage Gate from play!" Miranda responded as she retrieved the monster from her graveyard. "Blue-Eyes Shield Dragon reduces all effect damage I would've taken to zero as I control a Blue-Eyes monster." Miranda added as she took the blast, but her life-points remained intact. "You should know better than anyone that I won't be beaten that easily."

"We'll see how long that lasts, I end my turn." Tyler announced and Miranda drew her card.

"_Tyler's monster will destroy me next turn if I don't deal with it now." _Miranda thought as she glanced up at the monster. _"All he'd need to do is crash his monster into my Blue-Eyes and his monster's effect will do the rest." _Miranda thought before looking at her drawn card. "I activate Spellbook inside the Pot!" Miranda announced as she played the card and both siblings drew three cards. "Sorry Tyler but your lab's being shut down! I activate A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon!" Miranda announced and Tyler's eyes widened as the Blue-Eyes White Dragon took flight and with one wingbeat destroyed his lab before disappearing from the field. The resulting explosion brought his life-points plummeting down to 600.

"You may have destroyed my lab but all I need is one attack from Telepath Overlord to end this." Tyler responded and Miranda grinned.

"Oh, I know, that's why I'm ending this duel now! I activate Polymerization! I fuse the three Blue-Eyes White Dragons in my hand to Fusion Summon the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Miranda added and Tyler lowered his head as the massive, three headed dragon appeared on the field (10/4500/3800). "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, finish this duel now, Neutron Blast!" Miranda commanded and the thee heads prepared their attacks before launching it at Telepath Overlord destroying him and wiping out the rest of Tyler's life-points as Tyler was knocked on his backside. "One win to you at the Battle City Semi-Finals and one win to me just now." Miranda added as she walked up to Tyler and offered her hand to help him up. "I think we should have a tie breaker at some point."

"And there's a good chance you will." Sophia chimed in as Miranda helped up Tyler. "Sooner than you think, Raven, did you drop off the packages?"

"Indeed, I have." Raven nodded as she glanced up at Sophia.

"What packages?" Tyler asked and Sophia grinned.

"In due time, I have to get going." Sophia responded before she started to walk off. "Raven, Charles, your next destination is New York City, air travel's already been paid for,"

"Understood." Raven nodded before she walked off with Charles in toe, once the siblings were alone Tyler and Miranda shared uncertain looks.

"First that old face from Battle City shows up and now we have packages waiting for us back home?" Miranda asked with a frown on her face. "This can't be a coincidence."

"Agreed." Tyler nodded as they started to walk out of the room. "I suggest you stop by my apartment tomorrow so we can open them together."

"Sounds like a plan." Miranda nodded before frowning. "I know your set to marry her soon, but you have any idea what Sophia's up too?"

"No, for one thing, it's an arranged marriage and I haven't exactly had much time to get acquainted with her as I pointed out before the duel." Tyler responded as he turned to his sister. "But given who her father is, I think we'd better be prepared for something big." Tyler added before the siblings left the duel arena.


	4. Lover's Quarrel

It had been several hours since the duel between Miranda and Tyler had finished and Sophia had accompanied Raven and Charles to New York for several reasons, but one was sticking out to her as she sat down at her desk in the penthouse suite.

"We've compiled the file on Miranda Kaiba ma'am." The lead technician informed her over the phone as Sophia looked over it on her iPad. "We have started work on the other profiles as well. Starting from the National Level."

"Good, keep at it, I want as many profiles ready as possible." Sophia responded as she put down her iPad and went over to her laptop where she was operating the computer in her office at I2's corporate headquarters remotely. "Whose profile have you started on?"

"Adrienne Beaumont, I believe she was the French National Champion during the Orichalcos saga?" The technician responded and Sophia nodded. "Since losing the title last year she moved to Canada and has been open about her relationship with Amanda Corteau since their nasty break-ups with their boyfriends at the time."

"Yes, I remember reading the headlines." Sophia responded as she shook her head. "Duel Monsters national champions caught in revenge porn scandal after discovering that their boyfriends had been cheating on them", if it weren't for the fact that Amanda and Adrienne are so respected in the Duel Monsters community, I'm certain that that scandal would've ended their careers, instead it just got their ex-boyfriends blacklisted from every major tournament, couldn't have happened to a nicer pair of guys if you asked me."

"Rightly so." The technician nodded in agreement. "Speaking of Amanda, we should have her profile done by the end of the day as well, unlike Adrienne she's still the Canadian National Champion."

"Good to hear, I want as many profiles as possible before I make the announcement on Friday." Sophia responded before frowning. "And make sure that the computer in my office is working, the tournament that Theresa and Brandon is one of the most important on the national level outside of Battle City and I'm required to be there even if they weren't competing."

"Will do." The technician nodded before there was a knock at the door. "I should leave you to your work."

"And I should do the same." Sophia nodded before hanging up, after putting her phone on charge Sophia turned to the door. "Door's open and I'm decent." Sophia called out and the door opened revealing Raven, without a word the Polish woman closed the door behind her and neither woman would emerge from the room for the rest of the night.

*the next day*

The Barclay's Centre in Brooklyn, New York was packed for the finals of the tournament that was about to take place between Theresa and Brandon and as they got ready for the match, they couldn't help but feel butterflies in their stomach.

"_This is the biggest duel of my career since I left Duel Academy." _Theresa thought as she fixed her ponytail in front of the mirror in her dressing room, her dark brown shoulder length hair had been giving her trouble all day and Theresa was currently trying to fix the ponytail. _"And right now, I'm more concerned with my hair than my duel against Brandon, typical." _Theresa thought before there was a knock at the door and she finished tightening the hair band. "I'm decent!" Theresa called out and the door opened.

"Are you ready Theresa?" Brandon asked as he stepped into the room and Theresa nodded, his blonde hair was as messy as ever though since moving in together Theresa had been trying to get him to tidy up his hair more often, Theresa nodded before she stood up. "I hear Sophia Pegasus is in attendance."

"I'm not surprised." Theresa commented as she shook her head. "Winner of this tournament goes straight to the World Championships in Sydney next month, no hard feelings if I send you a postcard from Sydney, right?"

"Very funny, though I might let it slide if you include a picture of you sunbathing in a bikini." Brandon joked and Theresa gave him a playful slap on the arm for that comment. "Anyway, match is starting in five minutes, I'm ready when you are."

"Sounds good, hope you don't mind me kicking your ass." Theresa responded with a grin before she led him to the arena, as he was being led away however Brandon reached into his pocket and eyed a small black box.

"_No, I want to save that for after the duel, win or lose." _Brandon thought before pocketing the box and they stepped out into the arena.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is the moment you've been waiting for, the finals!" The MC called out and the crowd cheered as Theresa and Brandon stepped out. "And it's between lovers as Brandon Thomas takes on his girlfriend Theresa Daniels! Let's hope she doesn't make him sleep on the couch if he wins!"

"_Like I'd actually do that." _Theresa thought as she glanced over at Brandon who had just zipped up his jeans pocket that contained the box. "Are you ready Brandon?"

"Ready as I'll ever be." Brandon nodded before Theresa walked to the other side of the duel arena and Brandon hopped onto the duel arena. _"I would say that I hope she's ready for what I've got in mind for after the duel, but I doubt she is besides, I want to keep it a surprise until the time is right."_

"Err, hello, earth to Raven." Charles said as he waved his hand in front of the woman's covered face, she was too busy glancing up at the VIP box where Sophia was sitting to notice until Charles spoke up. "I know your mad that Sophia couldn't get us into the VIP Box as well, but we've got a job to do."

"Then do it." Raven snapped at him and Charles gulped before nodding and getting his camera ready. _"This had better be worth the jet lag I'm currently experiencing."_

"Raven." Sophia's voice rang out over the earpiece and Raven put her hand to it. "Did you drop off the packages?"

"They are waiting for Brandon and Theresa when they get home." Raven responded with a nod as she glanced up at the VIP Box. "Who are going after next?"

"Andreas and Nicola, I'll be on the way back to LA by then however." Sophia responded as she shook her head. "I trust that you can carry out that simple task."

"You wouldn't be paying me if I couldn't." Raven responded before Sophia hung up.

"I'll start things off, if that's okay with you Brandon." Theresa commented and Brandon shrugged his shoulders in response as his girlfriend drew her card. "I set two cards facedown and I summon Manju of the Ten Thousand Hands!" Theresa announced as she played the cards and the multi-armed fairy appeared on the field ready for battle (4/1400/1000). "This activates Manju's effect, allowing me to search my deck for either a ritual monster or ritual spell card and add it to my hand." Theresa explained as she started inputting some commands into her duel disk.

"_We haven't dueled each other since last year's New York Regionals, and yet this duel is opening in much the same way that duel opened." _Brandon thought as Theresa added the card to her hand and let her deck reshuffle. _"Neither of us made it past the Semi-Finals but who knows? Maybe this tournament will be our ticket to the big time, and maybe more."_

"That ends my turn." Theresa announced and Brandon nodded before drawing his card.

"I activate Allure of Darkness!" Brandon announced as he played the card before drawing two cards and banishing a third. "Next I summon Gaia, the Mid-Knight Sun!" Brandon announced as he played the card and the white knight on the black horse appeared on the field (4/1600/1200). "Gaia, attack Manju!" Brandon commanded and the knight charged into battle….

"I activate Beginning of Heaven and Earth!" Theresa announced before picking out three cards from her deck and holding them up. "Make your choice Brandon!"

"Middle card." Brandon responded and Theresa nodded before adding that card to her hand and sending the other cards to her graveyard. "Doesn't stop my monsters attack."

"Not on its own." Theresa responded before pocketing one of the cards she had discarded, and A/D Changer appeared on the field before holding up the red flag to force Polar Knight into defense mode. "You should know by now that I won't be beaten that easily."

"Maybe but we'll see how long you can keep that up, I set two cards facedown and end my turn, but not before the monster I just banished returns to the field." Brandon added before D.D. Scout plane appeared on the field (3/800/1200) and Theresa drew her card.

"_Not seeing much difference from their duel academy days." _Sophia thought with a frown as she watched from the VIP Box. _"Let's hope that changes soon."_

"_I know Brandon's deck just as well as I know my own and if I'm right then he plans to use Polar Knight's effect to send D.D. Scout Plane to the graveyard on his next turn." _Theresa thought before she looked over her hand. _"Guess it's time I busted out one of my new cards." _Theresa thought before playing the card. "I activate Reinforcement of the Army! And honestly, if I have to explain this card's effect to you at this point then you're not half the duelist I thought you were Brandon."

"True, but I have a card to play of my own." Brandon responded before his facedown card flipped up. "I activate Beckoning Darkness! By sending one Dark Type Monster from my hand to the graveyard I can draw two cards."

"_He did say that he had picked up some new cards the other day, I guess that's one of them." _Theresa thought as Brandon discarded the card and drew two cards, once that was done Theresa started inputting commands into her duel disk. _"Well, so much for being familiar with Brandon's deck, then again it wouldn't be as challenging if he didn't change the deck." _Theresa thought before adding the card to her hand. "Well, since your using a new card, I'll follow suit." Theresa responded once she let her deck auto-shuffle and sent her Spell Card to the graveyard before activating another card. "I activate the Ritual Spell Card Knight's Recruitment."

"_Now we're talking." _Sophia thought as a knight wearing purple armor under a robe appeared on the field briefly (3/800/800) before he was sucked into a portal alongside Manju. _"I hope Charles is getting all this."_

"I send Manju to the graveyard and banish Ritual Knight from my graveyard to ritual summon Gaia, the First Knight!" Theresa announced before she played the card and a new monster appeared on the field, initially it appeared to be Gaia the Fierce Knight but on closer inspection its armor looked archaic in designed and was showing signs of age, on top of that the horse appeared to be an older one as well (7/2300/2100). "Before you ask about Ritual Knight, his effect states that he can be banished from the graveyard for the Ritual Summon of a Warrior Type Monster, as for Gaia, the First Knight, well, as the name suggests, he was the first to be recruited into the company of knights known as Gaia."

"So, I gathered." Brandon responded with a nod as he stared at the old knight. "Even so, all that for a ritual monster that shares the stats with the original Gaia?"

"Assuming you mean Gaia the Fierce Knight because technically he is the original Gaia." Theresa responded and Brandon shook his head in response. "But enough being pedantic, if the First Knight is ritual summoned using a monster with the word "knight" in his name he gets the attack twice! And as a bonus, if Ritual Knight is used to summon a monster with the word "knight" in his name, he gets to inflict piercing damage! Gaia, the First Knight, attack D.D. Scout Plane!" Theresa commanded and the knight charged into battle but was stopped by a familiar ghostly form. "Necro Gardna?" Theresa asked as she stared at the monster (3/600/1300) who took the hit for D.D. Scout Plane. "Beckoning Darkness?"

"Could never get much passed you, especially since you just did a similar move." Brandon responded as he pocketed the monster. "However, as you said, you can attack twice with your monster."

"That's right." Theresa nodded before pointing to D.D. Scout Plane again. "Finish what you started Gaia!" Theresa commanded and the knight charged forward again…...

"I activate my other trap card, Lumenize!" Brandon announced as the facedown card flipped up. "Since you just declared an attack, this trap card negates the attack, then I can target the attacking monster and add it's attack points to one Light Type Monster I control." Brandon added as Gaia stopped in his tracks and the Mid-Knight Sun's attack increased to 3900. "Fortunately for you, the attack boost only lasts until the end phase, but it won't be long until the old guard give way for the new blood."

"We'll see about that, I end my turn." Theresa announced and Brandon drew his card.

"I activate Heaven's Blessings! Since I control one Light Type Monster, I can draw two cards." Brandon explained before he drew two cards. "Next I activate Shadow's Light! With this I can special summon one Light Type Monster from my deck that has the same level as one Dark Type Monster I control, I must skip my Battle Phase this turn but considering that you have the card advantage with Gaia, the First Knight on the field, I'll take it."

"_I don't know what Brandon's up too." _Theresa thought with a frown as Brandon started inputting commands into his duel disk. _"I would've thought his plan was to use D.D. Scout Plane to tribute summon Caius or a similar move but instead he's just summoning another level three monster." _Theresa thought before her eyes narrowed. _"Unless he's going for an XYZ Summon but then again, Brandon's always preferred the older ways of dueling."_

"I use this card to Special Summon Chaos Wizard." Brandon announced as he played the card and an old man in a black and white wizard costume appeared on the field (3/100/100). "I set two cards facedown and I end my turn." Brandon announced as he set the two cards and Theresa raised an eyebrow before drawing her card.

"_Just when I thought Brandon's move couldn't get any more confusing, he goes and Special Summons a monster with 100 attack and defense points and ends his turn." _Theresa thought with a confused look on her face. _"What's the point? Even without the piercing damage, that monster is a sitting duck for many monsters, does he want to lose this duel?" _Theresa thought before looking at her drawn card, without a word she added it to her hand and pointed at Chaos Wizard. "You want to leave a weak monster like that on the field? It's your funeral! Gaia, the First Knight, attack Chaos Wizard!" Theresa commanded and the knight charged into battle…...

"One thing I forgot to mention about Chaos Wizard." Brandon responded as one of his facedown cards flipped up. "He's a tuner monster! I activate Urgent Tuning to tune him with D.D. Scout Plane!"

"Wait, what?!" Theresa called out as Chaos Wizard and D.D. Scout Plane leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon. "Since when did your deck feature Synchro Monsters?"

"Since my graduation duel against Lance, just haven't had a chance to really test them out until now." Brandon responded before he retrieved a card from his extra deck. "I Synchro Summon Chaos Witch!" Brandon announced as he played the card and a new monster appeared on the field, it was a witch in the traditional sense as she was an ugly old hag wearing a black and white witch's outfit (6/2400/1200). "Care to try again?"

"Well, considering you've got another monster on the field, I will." Theresa responded before pointing to Brandon's other monster. "Gaia, the First Knight, attack Gaia, the Mid-Knight Sun!" Theresa commanded and the knight charged into battle but was stopped by an invisible force-field. "Negate Attack?"

"When all else fails, there's nothing wrong with the old favorites." Brandon responded as he sent his trap cards to the graveyard. "Anything else?"

"I set one card facedown and end my turn." Theresa announced as she set the card and Brandon drew his card.

"_Well. Considering that was my first time doing a Synchro Summon, I'd say it went well." _Brandon thought before looking at his drawn card. _"And it's about to go better!" _Brandon thought before playing the card. "I tribute Gaia, the Mid-Knight Sun to summon Caius, the Shadow Monarch!" Brandon announced as Gaia, the Mid-Knight Sun disappeared from the field and was replaced by the large, shadow monarch (6/2400/1200). "I this activates Caius's effect! And I don't suppose The First Knight is a Dark Type Monster, is he?"

"No, he is an Earth Type Monster, just like the original card used by Yugi." Theresa responded and Brandon nodded as Caius threw a ball of dark energy at The First Knight destroying him. "But he isn't leaving me empty handed, when The First Knight is removed from the field, I can banish Knight's Recruitment from my graveyard to add one "Black Luster Soldier" card to my hand." Theresa added before pocketing the Spell Card and she started inputting commands into her duel disk.

"_I swear if she brings out Black Luster Soldier – Rookie Soldier next I'll scream!" _Brandon thought as Theresa added the card to her hand and let her deck auto-shuffle. "That's fine, because either way, I get to draw first blood! Chaos Witch, Caius, attack her life-points directly!" Brandon commanded and the two monsters unleashed their attacks at Theresa bringing her life-points down to 4200. "When Chaos Witch inflicts battle damage her effect activates, allowing me to search my deck for either a Light Type Monster or a Dark Type Monster depending on the attribute of the Tuner Monster I Synchro Summoned her with!"

"That's not all your attack did Brandon." Theresa responded and Brandon looked up in time to realize that she had activated one of her facedown cards. "I activate Damage Condenser, I use this to Special Summon Beginning Knight from my deck!" Theresa added as the young knight appeared on the field holding his shield up (4/500/2000) after Theresa discarded a card and searched through her deck. "I'm not out of this yet Brandon."

"_Normally I'd dispute that, but I know her all too well." _Brandon thought as her deck auto-shuffled. "As soon as your deck is done shuffling, it'll be your turn." Brandon announced and Theresa nodded before drawing her card as soon as the deck finished shuffling.

"_If this doesn't work, then this duel's over, Brandon's two monsters have more than enough attack power between them to finish me off on his next turn." _Theresa thought before looking at her drawn card and grinning. "I summon my second Manju!" Theresa announced as the fairy returned to the field and Theresa started inputting commands into her duel disk again. _"Can't remember the last time my deck got shuffled so much, hopefully I didn't put all my good cards on the bottom." _Theresa thought before adding the card to her hand. "I activate Super Soldier Ritual!"

"_Oh crap." _Brandon thought as his eyes widened whilst Manju and Beginning Knight were sucked into a portal.

"I sacrifice Beginning Knight and Manju to ritual summon Black Luster Soldier – Super Soldier!" Theresa announced as she played the card and from the portal emerged the infamous monster (8/3000/2500). "Alongside his own effect, he gains all the abilities of Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning thanks to me using Beginning Knight to Ritual Summon him." Theresa added before grinning. "And I'm about to use those two attacks to take out your monsters! Black Luster Soldier – Super Soldier, attack Chaos Witch and Caius!" Theresa commanded and the soldier charged into battle before slashing Brandon's two monsters with his sword sending Brandon's life-points plummeting down to 2000.

"Wait, how did she inflict that much damage in two attacks?" Charles wondered as he glanced over at Raven.

"She did it through Super Soldier's effect, when Black Luster Soldier – Super Soldier destroys a monster by battle that monster's attack points get taken out of the opponent's life-points." Raven explained before shifting her weight. "The two attacks alone inflicted 1200 points of damage in total, added the 4800 points of damage from Super Soldier's effect and you get a total of six thousand points of damage."

"And she can attack twice with that thing?!" Charles asked with a look of shock on his face.

"Sophia has considered limiting Beginning Knight for that very reason, however as Theresa is the only Pro-League duelist using a Black Luster Soldier deck, she considers it to niche a deck to worry about." Raven responded before Sophia cleared her throat over the earpiece.

"I can speak for myself, thank you Raven." Sophia's annoyed voice responded, and Raven remained motionless. "That said, if she does win this and take this deck to Worlds, I might need to reconsider it, because then the lethal abilities of this deck will be on show for a global audience and then we might get Dragon Rulers and Spellbooks all over again."

"I end my turn." Theresa announced and Brandon drew his card. "But if you want to surrender, I'd understand, all I need is one direct attack from my soldier and you're done."

"To borrow a phrase from Chloe, I'll never give up as long as I have life-points left." Brandon responded before he looked at his drawn card. _"And if this isn't perfect timing, then I don't know what is." _Brandon thought before looking up at Theresa. "Here's the thing about Chaos Witch, as long as she's in the graveyard she counts as both a dark and light type monster, meaning that I now have enough monsters in my graveyard to Special Summon Dark Armed Dragon!"

"_I should've known this card was coming." _Theresa thought with a frown as Dark Armed Dragon appeared on the field (7/2800/1000). "Even if you banish a card from your graveyard for Dark Armed Dragon's effect, I can use his effect to Special Summon a Gaia, The Fierce Knight Monster from my deck, I'm not out of the woods yet."

"That's where your wrong because there's another monster I can summon, because I have three dark and three light type monsters in my graveyard, I can Special Summon Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Twilight!" Brandon announced as he played the card after pocketing three cards and his own version if the legendary monster appeared on the field (8/3000/2500). "I activate his effect, since I banished all the light type monsters in my graveyard, I can banish Super Soldier." Brandon added and Theresa braced herself as the soldier slammed his sword down sending the shockwave towards Super Soldier and destroying him. "I can't conduct my Battle Phase the same turn I use this effect, so you have one turn to turn this around, starting now."

"_This is it, even if I draw something like Dimension Wall, I can still win this." _Theresa thought before drawing her card, however she took one look at the card and sighed. "A dead draw, you win Brandon." Theresa added before resting her arms at her side. "But I didn't come this far to surrender now, it's your move." Theresa added and Brandon nodded before drawing his card but they both knew that it was a formality at this point. "Good luck at the World Championships."

"Thanks Theresa, Dark Armed Dragon, Evening Twilight, finish it!" Brandon commanded and the two monsters unleashed their attacks on Theresa bringing her life-points down to zero.

"The winner of the match and the tournament is Brandon Thomas! He will go on to represent New York at the World Championships!" The MC called out over the cheering crowd and Theresa approached her boyfriend.

"Brandon, I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't disappointed in the loss." Theresa said as she offered a handshake to Brandon who accepted it. "But you're not going to leave me in New York when you go to Sydney, right?"

"Off course not, what kind of a boyfriend would I be?" Brandon asked before reaching into his pocket. "Let me rephrase that, what kind of fiancé would I be?" Brandon asked before he dropped to one knee and opened the box, he retrieved from his pocket revealing an engagement ring and Theresa covered her mouth in shock. "Theresa, when we met in Duel Academy you were the first serious girlfriend I had and since then, you've confirmed one thing, that you're the woman I want to spend the rest of my life with, will you marry me?" Brandon asked and the crowd's cheers increased in volume to almost deafening levels as it sunk in to Theresa.

"Yes! Yes! A thousand times, yes!" Theresa said once the shock wore off and the newly engaged couple shared an embrace in the middle of the duel arena as the crowd cheered.

"_Didn't think I ever see a duel get that emotional." _Sophia thought with a grin as she watched from the VIP Box. _"Makes me want to tie the knot with Tyler even more." _Sophia thought before putting her hand to her earpiece. "Raven, I can see Charles getting emotional from up here, get him a tissue already, also your next stop is Queens."

"Understood." Raven nodded in response as the crowd started to disperse. "Are you staying in New York?"

"No, have to get back to LA, got a multinational business to run and all." Sophia responded as she shook her head. "Not to mention the announcement to prepare."

"Got it, see you when we get back." Raven nodded before Sophia hung up.

*later*

It had been a few hours since the tournament finals and Sophia was flying back to LA in her private jet, as Sophia typed away at her laptop, she got a call on her cell-phone and answered it.

"You've reached Sophia Pegasus Airlines, I'm sorry I can't take your call right now, currently 50,000 feet in the air." Sophia responded before she went to hang up, however when she saw the caller ID, she put the phone back to her ear. "Claudio? How did you get this number?"

"I have my ways." Claudio responded and Sophia frowned. "So, how goes the preparations?"

"They are going well, if nothing goes wrong then we should be set to go by Friday at the latest." Sophia responded as she leaned back. "Why?"

"Well, here's the thing, my company is one of the most powerful sponsors in North America and we want a representative taking part." Claudio responded and Sophia frowned. "I can assure you, the duelist in question is one of the best in the world and he will make a fine addition."

"If you wanted him added, you should've said so at the meeting." Sophia responded with a frown. "But as we discussed at that meeting, all participants are chosen by me and me alone, sorry but your golden boy will have to wait."

"That's too bad, I bet your father will be thrilled to hear about all the romantic flings you've had." Claudio responded and Sophia's eyes narrowed. "And I have photos to prove it, have to say, your breasts look even larger when your naked, now, I'm sure he won't mind the fact that they were with both men and women, but I think he will take issue with you breaching the arranged marriage contract."

"Are you blackmailing me?!" Sophia demanded as she started pacing back and forth down the plane. "Claudio, I swear to god, if this ends up on TMZ in the morning I will destroy you and your company!"

"I think you'll be too busy fighting the breach of contract lawsuit, and that's if you don't get arrested for it." Claudio responded and Sophia clenched her fist.

"Fine, you want your duelist in the tournament? He's in but understand that he'll be starting from the lowest class possible and the moment he's caught cheating is the moment your company is dead in the water!" Sophia warned him and Claudio chuckled.

"Excellent, I'll have the info sent to you as soon as possible." Claudio responded before hanging up and Sophia growled before throwing her phone to the ground in anger and taking several deep breaths.

"Everything okay ma'am?" The air stewardess asked meekly, and Sophia looked up.

"Don't worry yourself about it, just get me a glass of the strongest beer you have on tap." Sophia responded as she glared at the air stewardess who gulped before running off, Sophia let out a deep breath before sitting back down and calling her technician over Skype. "Robert, there's been a last minute addition to the tournament, I want you to compile a file on him immediately and I want it sent up to my office as soon as I get back."

"Off course." Robert responded after clearly being taken aback by the anger in Sophia's voice. "What's their name?"

"I don't have a name yet but as soon as I do, I'll send you the details." Sophia responded before getting an e-mail, she checked it and frowned when she saw who it was. "Son of a Bitch!"

"Excuse me?!" Robert asked and Sophia turned to him.

"Not you, I have the info and I'm forwarding it to you now." Sophia responded before forwarding it to Robert who got to work as soon as he got the e-mail. _"Claudio had better know what the hell he's doing!" _Sophia thought as the air stewardess brought her drink over and retrieved her phone for her. _"Making me add a former Orichalcos Duelist to the biggest tournament of my career."_


	5. Animal Wrongs, Animal Rights

It had been a few hours since the tournament finals and Theresa and Brandon were on their way home after celebrating their engagement and Brandon's admission to the World Championships at one of their favorite restaurants, they had entered Syracuse, New York about twenty minutes ago and their journey wouldn't keep take them much longer to reach home.

"So, how long have you had that ring in your pocket?" Theresa asked as she admired the engagement ring on her finger. "And I guess a better question is, how long were you planning to pop the question for?"

"I made up my mind on the decision last month, after we qualified for the tournament, we just spent the past week competing in." Brandon responded as he turned to his fiancé. "I got the ring two weeks ago when you were visiting your mother, did everything I could to keep it a secret until the time was right."

"And you chose the finals of our biggest tournament to date?" Theresa asked with a grin on her face. "Don't think mom will be to happy if she learns about it through Social Media before I get the chance to tell her, she's always had an old fashioned mindset when it comes to personal info on that."

"Well, considering that we are currently trending worldwide on Twitter, that'll be a challenge." Brandon responded with a grin before he pulled up to the house they shared. "I mean, you haven't had any calls since we left the arena so maybe you can call her before she finds out." Brandon suggested and Theresa nodded before getting her phone out.

"Hi mom, it's me, have you checked Twitter and Facebook yet?" Theresa asked once her mother answered the phone and once, she got a response Theresa grinned. "Good, I've got big news, me and Brandon got engaged tonight!" Theresa added whilst barely being able to contain her excitement and her grin grew wider when she heard her mother's response. "Would've called you earlier but we stopped by a restaurant to celebrate the engagement, we still need to book a venue, get a marriage license and set a date, but things should go well."

"Ask her if she'll object to holding the wedding in Sydney next month." Brandon suggested earning a mock glare from Theresa. "What? I'm just saying."

"That was Brandon, he's got his own idea of where to host the wedding." Theresa added as she shook her head before they got out of the car. "Said idea really depends on how many family members can afford flights to Australia however." Theresa added before nodding. "We'll talk more about it in the morning? Great, see you in the morning." Theresa added before she ended the call and turned to her fiancé. "I don't think she was too thrilled about traveling half way across the world for my wedding."

"I'm sure my dad would be happy to cover the air travel." Brandon responded and Theresa shook her head in response.

"I think she'd prefer to have it in a more local area." Theresa added as they approached their front door, Theresa reached into her pocket and got her keys out. "I think the real question is, will I take on your name or the other way around?"

"My dad will probably say that you should take on my surname, he's a bit of a traditionalist and would prefer if I kept the family name going." Brandon added as Theresa put the key in the lock, as she unlocked the door however Brandon kissed her on the lips which she was happy to return. "Here's to the rest of our lives."

"And everything else that comes with it." Theresa added as she pushed the door open with her foot and backed into the house without looking as she was too busy kissing Brandon, just as the kissing was starting to intensify however Theresa fell on her backside as she tripped over one of the packages left behind by Raven. "What the hell?!" Theresa asked before Brandon helped her up, she looked at the packages and frowned. "Did you order anything from Amazon before we left?"

"Not that I can remember." Brandon responded as he shook his head, Brandon closed the door behind him and looked at the package. "One for me and one for you, both from I2."

"Not everyday that you get a package from I2." Theresa nodded before she picked up her package, which was the one she had tripped on, and looked at it. "Whatever it is, it's heavy."

"Well, it would be rude to not open them." Brandon commented before picking up his package and frowning. "How did these packages get in here exactly? Pretty sure I would've remembered having a package this big before leaving for Brooklyn this morning."

"And if Lance was here, he'd be cracking up at how wrong that sounds." Theresa responded as she shook her head. "Seriously though, whoever delivered it must've used a spare key or the gardener let them in."

"Remind me to have a word with the gardener if he did let them in." Brandon sighed and Theresa nodded in agreement before they took their packages into the living room. "Might be worth checking the security system as well, see just who dropped off the packages."

"Yeah, I'll be surprised if Sophia dropped off these packages herself." Theresa nodded in agreement as they set down the packages. "She may have helped us against the Orichalcos, but she does have a multinational company to run."

"You think we should invite her to the wedding?" Brandon asked and Theresa shook her head.

"How about we invite the others from our graduating class and Chloe's graduating class before we invite the millionaire." Theresa responded before Brandon left to get the box cutter. _"Still, can't help but wonder just what's inside these packages."_

*the next day*

It was the day after the tournament in New York and Sophia was back at the Corporate HQ of Industrial Illusions, however, to say she wasn't in the best of moods was an understatement.

"_I need a god damn drink!" _Sophia thought as she leaned back in the desk chair and looked at the ceiling with an annoyed sigh. _"How did Claudio even find out about those romantic flings? I didn't meet him until after I took over from my father and all the flings I had was back when I was a pro-league duelist, never mind the fact that they never amounted to anything outside of a night of passion." _Sophia thought before she got an e-mail notification, when she saw the e-mail was from Claudio her mood worsened. _"What the hell does he want now?!" _Sophia thought before clicking on the e-mail.

It didn't take long for her to regret it; the e-mail was titled "a little reminder" and it contained copies of the pictures Claudio had mentioned during her plane journey which was just as explicit as he had promised. _"You can't let him get to you Sophia." _Thunder Unicorn, her Duel Spirit Partner, assured her and Sophia groaned.

"_Could've used that piece of advice yesterday Thunder Unicorn." _Sophia responded before her phone rang and she grabbed it. "WHAT?!"

"Is this a bad time?" Robert asked sheepishly and Sophia sighed.

"No, just got a lot of stress right now." Sophia responded as she looked at the explicit images that she had been sent. _"I need to have someone look into this, someone I can trust, Raven has enough on her plate with her scouting operation, so the question is, who?" _Sophia thought before sighing. "What do you want?"

"We've finished the profile on Amanda and have started on the profiles for Phillip and Francesca Masters." Robert responded and Sophia nodded.

"Right, right, they got married last year, didn't they?" Sophia sighed as she exited out of the e-mail. "Last I heard from them, they still lived in Ireland."

"Yes, and they don't seem to have any intention of moving, they would be a good addition to the tournament regardless." Robert responded and Sophia nodded.

"Keep at it, I've got an announcement to prepare and I have two days to prepare it." Sophia responded before hanging up, she went to put the phone down before pausing and going through her rolodex, once she found the number, she wanted she dialed it. "It's Sophia, I know your preparing for the tournament, but I need your help with something."

"What do you need?" A female Australian accent asked, and Sophia frowned.

"Someone has been digging into my past, and they have uncovered info that could undermine everything I've accomplished since I took over." Sophia responded before sighing. "I'm not going into detail over the phone, you never know who might be listening in, but what I will do is forward you an e-mail." Sophia added before clicking on the e-mail from Claudio and hitting forward. "And yes, before you ask, that is me in those pictures." Sophia added and the Australian woman paused.

"Good thing you clarified, I was beginning to think that you had sent me images from PornHub." She responded and Sophia shook her head. "Usual price?"

"Yes, but I will double it if you find out how he got these images and what his end game is." Sophia added as she ran a hand through her hair. "At the moment, he's forcing me to add a former Orichalcos Duelist to the tournament, now from what I could find, he's turned his life around since then and has managed to make a respectful career for himself as a duelist but if word gets out that a former Orichalcos Duelist is competing…"

"Say no more." The Australian woman nodded in understanding. "Will Raven help me with this?"

"She's busy with her scouting operations, plus she's back in New York." Sophia responded as she shook her head. "Just remember, no one is to know of this, there's more at stake here than just an embarrassing scandal Jade."

"I understand, I'll call you back if I find anything." Jade responded before hanging up and Sophia ran a hand down her face.

"_I swear, at the rate I'm going, I'll be an alcoholic by the time the tournament starts." _Sophia thought with a sigh as she looked at the e-mail. _"I hope Raven's doing her job."_

*back in New York*

The New York Dueling scene was still buzzing over the end of the tournament but for most of the duelists in the city it was back to business as usual.

"_Shame me and Nicola got knocked out in the qualifying stages of that tournament." _Andreas thought as he got out of the car, it was a windy day which meant his shoulder length red hair was blowing all over the place, but he paid it no attention as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. _"Still, there is always next time." _Andreas thought before walking up to the door and unlocking it with his key. "Nicola, I'm home." Andreas called out once he opened the door.

"I'll be down in a minute, just doing my hair." Nicola called back from the upstairs area and Andreas shook his head, the young couple had taken to volunteering at the local ASPCA shelter in between their tournament duels and today was another day for them to volunteer.

"Nicola, we're going to the ASPCA shelter, I doubt they'll mind if your hair's a little messy." Andreas called back as the German man looked around the house.

"A little? Try a lot, woke up with the worst bad hair day in the history of bed hair days." Nicola called back and a few minutes later she finally emerged from the bathroom albeit still brushing her shoulder length light brown hair with blonde highlights as she did. "Still can't believe Brandon proposed to Theresa after beating her in the finals, you're not going to do that on such a public stage, right?"

"Why? Would you like that?" Andreas joked and Nicola shook her head before finally putting the comb down and coming down the stairs. "Don't worry, when I do pop the question it'll be something a bit more intimate."

"Brandon did it in front of a worldwide audience, you're not exactly setting the bar very high!" Nicola responded before kissing her boyfriend which he returned. "Seriously though, any idea what we'll be up to at the ASPCA today?"

"We'll be getting at least two dogs ready for adoption, after that? Likely more of the same." Andreas responded before the couple left the house and entered Andreas's car. "Have you heard from your agent yet?" Andreas asked as he put his seatbelt on, and Nicola glanced up.

"If you mean as far as tournaments go, well, the world championship qualifier was the last one she signed me up for." Nicola responded as she buckled up. "But I did talk to her last night, she said that she'll get my signed up for another tournament soon."

"It never stops does it?" Andreas laughed and Nicola grinned. "You did remember to donate half of your prize money to the autism charity, right?"

"And half to the ASPCA, it is the least I can do, considering I'm one of the few openly autistic people on the Pro-Leagues." Nicola responded as she leaned back. "And don't worry, she'll contact your agent to get you signed up for that tournament as well."

"That's good to know." Andreas nodded as he drove off. "You ever miss Duel Academy?"

"I don't miss the injuries I took at Cameron's, Thomas's and Jessica's hands, at least they are in jail for their role in the Orichalcos." Nicola nodded in response as she leaned back. "But in a way, I do kind of miss the days were the only thing at stake during a duel was pride and bragging rights, and occasionally your soul."

"I understand that, but we get paid to play the game we love so I can't complain there." Andreas nodded in agreement before sighing. "I do wish that I could've competed in my home country however."

"I'm still mad about that, your nothing like Otto yet they treated you like dirt for being his twin brother." Nicola sighed as she glanced out the window. "Not even Axel Loather going to bat for you was enough to get them to take you on, but hey, at least you're a lot closer to me and you know what they say about long distance relationships."

"I wanted to move to New York initially, but my parents assured me that no one would hold Otto's actions against me, naiveté bit me big time back then." Andreas commented as he shook his head. "Enough about the past, how about we just focus on the present?"

"And the future." Nicola responded with a grin before they drove off.

*at the New York ASPCA*

It took them about twenty minutes to reach the New York ASPCA but by the time they got there, it was business as usual for them, but not so much for a certain Polish woman.

"You know Charles, you could've mentioned that you were allergic to animal fur before we got here." Raven commented over the earpiece as she walked past the dog kennels. "But instead, I'm the one holding the camera."

"Sorry, I didn't realize that they were going to be spending the day at the ASPCA." Charles responded sheepishly and Raven shook her head. "For what it's worth, I dropped off the packages."

"Good, wait for me in the car, we only have one destination left and that's over in Bensonhurst, and don't worry, I'll make sure to dust off the trench coat should I come into contact with any dogs, quote the Raven, nevermore." Raven added before hanging up, she glanced over momentarily at the dogs, the younger ones were excited to see her whilst the older ones were more chilled out about it. _"I'll never understand how people can treat animals so cruelly, at least my target loves them enough to volunteer here."_

"Kennel Number 16 and 20, not that far to go now." Nicola's voice rang out and Raven looked up to see Nicola walking towards her. "Oh hey, are you interested in adopting a dog?"

"Hmm? Oh, no, my husband is allergic, I'm just here to look." Raven responded as she shook her head and Nicola nodded in understanding. "You mentioned Kennels 16 and 20? Because when I passed them, they were empty."

"Huh?" Nicola asked before running over to the kennels in question and confirming what Raven had said, she spotted Andreas nearby and called out to him. "Andreas, did you take Lilo and Stitch to meet their new owners already?"

"No, why?" Andreas asked before Nicola motioned him over, once he saw the empty kennels he frowned. "A Rottweiler and a Pitbull, popular targets for dog fighters."

"God, I hope not." Nicola responded with a sigh before looking over at Raven. "Hey, do you think you can help? It seems some dog nappers got here before we did."

"Off course." Raven nodded before they split up.

*a few minutes later*

Out the back of the ASPCA Shelter two shady individuals were dragging the two dogs away from the shelter via leads.

"Come on, you mangy mutt!" The male dog napper grunted as he attempted to drag Lilo, the Rottweiler, away from the shelter and his female companion tried to drag away the Pitbull Stitch. "The getaway car is just down here, right?"

"Yeah, I parked it back there." The woman responded as she motioned to the SUV. "Sooner we get out off here, sooner we can use these mutts in dog fights."

"How about you don't say that out loud whilst we're so close to the shelter…..." The male companion trailed off as Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus and Crystal Beast Amber Mammoth blocked their path and stopped dead in his tracks. "What the…..."

"Don't even think about trying to get away." Nicola said as she stepped forward with her Duel Disk active and glaring daggers at the two thieves. "Give those dogs back now! They have loving families waiting for them."

"Get bent!" The male dog napper spat to the ground and Nicola glared at them. "Like someone as short as you is going to…" He never finished his sentence as the two duel monsters rammed into their backs knocking them over and causing them to let go off the leashes, Lilo and Stitch quickly ran over to Nicola who greeted the two dogs with a hug as they licked her face.

"_Good thing this isn't a tournament, using a duel disk without the safeties on is a big no-no as Chloe can attest too." _Nicola thought as she stroked the two dogs. _"Also, short? I'm 5ft 4! Okay, granted I'm not exactly a supermodel either but I can think of several women who are shorter than me, including that Polish woman I ran into back there…" _Nicola's thoughts trailed off as she heard a gun clock and looked up to see the male thief pointing a gun at her. _"Should've known it wouldn't be that easy."_

"Give us back the dogs now, or I'll blow your brains out!" The male shouted at Nicola who glared at him. "Don't think I won't…" He trailed off as Raven ran in from the side and grabbed the arm, he was using to hold the gun, with one fluid motion she delivered a stiff elbow to the joint causing him to yell out in pain as he dropped the gun, the thug tried to punch Raven in the face in retaliation, but Raven caught the fist and took him down with a judo throw.

"Nie zrobisz czegos takiego!" Raven shouted in her native language as she kicked the gun away and restrained the male thug. "A jesil wiedzialbys, co jest dia ciebie dobre, natychmiast odszedies."

"What the fuck did you just say?!" The woman asked with a confused look on her face and Raven remained motionless.

"She said "You will do no such thing, and if you knew what was good for you, you'd leave immediately.", I suggest you follow her advice." Andreas translated for the thieves once Raven let go off the male thug and after seeing the glares, she was giving them they scrambled to their feet and fled to their getaway. "Impressive, I wasn't expecting such fighting prowess from a woman of your size."

"Looks can be deceiving, in my line of work, I need to know how to defend myself." Raven shrugged her shoulders in response as she glanced over at Andreas. "What surprises me, is that you understand Polish, I was under the impression that you only knew English and German."

"Because no sponsor would take me on when I returned to Germany, I had to resort to going to neighboring countries to compete in tournaments." Andreas explained as he shook his head. "Poland was one of those countries I frequented, had to learn the language if I was going to get anywhere." Andreas added before spotting a duel disk on Raven's arm. "You duel?"

"Indeed, I do, you may have seen me compete at the Las Vegas Battle City." Raven nodded before getting an idea. "How about this Andreas, we'll duel each other, bit of an icebreaker following that incident."

"That's fine, I could use the practice." Andreas nodded before turning to Nicola. "Nicola, I think Lilo and Stitch's new family is waiting for them."

"I'll be back as soon as I can." Nicola nodded before leading the two dogs away.

"You may call ne Raven." Raven continued as she held up her duel disk. "And before you ask, no it's mot my real name, only those I trust dearly know my real name."

"If you have something to hide, that's fine." Andreas nodded before he activated his duel disk and Raven did likewise. "But I have nothing to hide, I'll even let you go first."

"Such a gentlemen." Raven chuckled before they drew their opening hands and Raven looked over hers. "I summon Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind!" Raven announced as she played the card and the small black crow humanoid appeared on the field (3/1300/400). "I set two cards facedown a and end my turn."

"A woman calling herself Raven who runs Blackwings." Andreas commented dryly as he drew his card. "That's a little on the nose, don't you think?"

"Perhaps." Raven commented as she folded her arms. "But I'm hardly the only duelist who uses this archetype."

"Point taken." Andreas admitted before looking over his hand. "I set two cards facedown and I summon Star Wolf!" Andreas announced as he played the card and a wolf whose fur was the same color as the stars used to represent a monster's level appeared on the field (4/1800/1200). "Star Wolf, attack Gale the Whirlwind!" Andreas commanded and the wolf let out a howl before pouncing at Raven's monster….

"I activate my Trap Card Black Sonic!" Raven announced as her facedown card flipped up and before Star Wolf's attack could hit, he vanished from the field. "Since you declared an attack on a Blackwing monster I control this Trap Card banishes all monsters you control."

"_Didn't think I'd have to use this combo so soon but it's clear that she knows what she's doing with her Blackwings deck." _Andreas thought before going over his hand. "I end my turn." Andreas announced and Raven drew her card.

"Okay, I'm back, happy to report that Lilo and Stitch are going to a loving family." Nicola commented as she returned to the area and looked over the field. "Blackwings? Been a while since I saw that deck."

"Would it happen to be during the Las Vegas Battle City Tournament?" Raven asked as she added her drawn card to her hand. "Because that was the last time I competed in a tournament."

"Wait, you're the duelist who took on Eddie in the Battle City Semi-Finals?!" Nicola asked once she put two and two together. "I thought you disappeared into thin air after Eddie eliminated you."

"You are partially correct, following my loss I returned to my home country of Poland." Raven nodded in response as she glanced over at the Autistic woman. "You may call me Raven, as for why I haven't appeared in a tournament since then, the dueling scene in Poland is still young and there aren't that many sponsors in the country yet."

"So, what are you doing in New York if you live in Poland?" Nicola asked with a confused look on her face. "Seems a long way to go just to look at some cute animals."

"I have my reasons, now if you excuse me, I have a duel to continue." Raven responded as she looked over her hand. _"No monsters that I can use for a Synchro Summon, but I can attack with my monster." _Raven thought before she pointed to Andreas. "Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind, attack his life-points directly!" Raven commanded and the winged beast flew towards Andreas….

"I activate my Trap Card Battle Instinct!" Andreas announced as his facedown card flipped up. "Since you just declared an attack on my life-points, this Trap Card will allow me to Special Summon one Beast Type Monster from my hand, such as Different Dimension Beast!" Andreas added as he played the card and a light blue wolf like creature appeared on the field blocking Gale the Whirlwind's path (4/1500/1000). "Not only is he strong enough to destroy Gale the Whirlwind but as I special summoned him from my hand, I can Special Summon one Beast-Type monster that was removed from play."

"Such as Star Wolf." Raven nodded as the wolf returned to the field. "Not bad, but we'll soon see what good that move does you, I set one card facedown and end my turn." Raven announced as she set the card and Andreas drew his card. _"Good thing I set up the camera on a tripod and set it to record this duel before coming in to save the day, otherwise Sophia wouldn't get her precious footage." _Raven thought as she glanced over at Andreas.

"As I control another Beast Type Monster, I can increase or reduce Star Wolf's level depending on the level of the other monster, I chose to reduce Star Wolf's level by three." Andreas announced as Star Wolf's level dropped to one. "He also happens to be a Tuner Monster, so I tune him and Different Dimension Beast together!" Andreas announced as the two Beast Type Monsters leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon. "I Synchro Summon Thunder Unicorn!"

"_Just as Sophia's file told me." _Raven thought as the bright flash enveloped the field before Thunder Unicorn appeared on the field (5/2200/1800).

"I activate Thunder Unicorn's effect, reducing Gale the Whirlwind's attack by five-hundred points." Andreas added as lightning shot out from Thunder Unicorn's horn striking Gale the Whirlwind and reducing its attack to 800. "I can only attack with Thunder Unicorn when I use this effect, but that's fine by me! Thunder Unicorn, attack Gale the Whirlwind!" Andreas commanded and the monster charged towards the far weaker monster…

"I activate my Trap Card Negate Attack, I don't think I need to explain this Trap Card's effect." Raven added as Thunder Unicorn's attack bounced off an invisible forcefield. "Anything else?"

"I set one card facedown and end my turn." Andreas announced as he set the card and Raven drew her card.

"I activate Heaven's Lost Property! Now we'll both draw three cards and discard two." Raven announced as she played the card and both she and Andreas drew three cards and discarded two. "As I control a Blackwing monster other than Bora the Spear, I can Special Summon him from my hand." Raven added as she played the card and the large black humanoid crow carrying a black spear appeared on the field (4/1700/800). "I tune my two monsters together!"

"_I was wondering how long it would take her to bring out her Blackwing Synchros." _Andreas thought as the two Blackwings leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon. _"And it could mean bad news for me depending on what cards she has."_

"I Synchro Summon Blackwing Armor Master!" Raven announced as she played the card and the large, armored humanoid crow appeared on the field once the bright flash faded (7/2500/1500). "For my Normal Summon, I will summon Blackwing – Elphin the Raven!" Raven announced as she played the card and another large black crow humanoid appeared on the field (6/2200/1200). "As I control another Blackwing Monster, I can normal summon this monster without a tribute, Blackwing Armor Master, attack Thunder Unicorn!" Raven commanded and her Synchro Monster flew into battle…

"I activate Horn of the Phantom Beast! This Trap Card increases Thunder Unicorn's attack points by eight hundred points." Andreas responded as his trap card flipped up and Thunder Unicorn's attack increased to 3000 before it charged at Blackwing Armor Master.

"Thanks to Armor Master's effect, he won't be destroyed by battle." Raven responded as Blackwing Armor Master took the hit from Thunder Unicorn but survived it. "But more importantly, any monster that battles it gets a wedge counter and this counter reduces that monster's attack points to zero until the end of the turn." Raven added as Thunder Unicorn doubled over in pain as its attack points dropped to zero. "Elphin the Raven, attack Thunder Unicorn!" Raven commanded and the smaller of the two humanoids flew towards Thunder Unicorn before slashing it with his claws bringing Andreas's life-points down to 5800. "And that's first blood to me."

"Perhaps, but I'm not out of this yet! I activate my facedown card Shock Draw! As I have just taken over two thousand points of damage this Trap Card will allow me to draw two cards!" Andreas explained before he drew his cards and added them to his hand. "And Thunder Unicorn is hardly the only Beast Type Synchro Monster I control."

"Perhaps, but as long as Armor Master remains on the field, you won't be able to do any decent damage to my life-points." Raven pointed out before going over her hand. "It's your move." Raven announced and Andreas drew his card.

"I summon Lock Cat!" Andreas announced as he played the card and the small white cat with the golden lock around her neck appeared on the field (3/1200/1000). "As I have normal summoned Lock Cat, her effect activates! Allowing me to Special Summon Key Mouse from my graveyard!" Andreas added as the small mouse appeared on the field (1/100/100). "And finally, since I control at least two Beast Type Monsters I can Special Summon Chain Dog from the graveyard!"

"A cat, a dog and a mouse." Raven commented dryly as the large dog appeared on the field (4/1600/1100). "All we need is an owner of those animals and we'd be recreating Ton & Jerry."

"Do I count since they are my cards?" Andreas asked and Raven remained quiet. _"Strong silent type, just as she was during Battle City, we'll see how long this lasts." _Andreas thought before pointing to his three monsters. "Unfortunately, they won't be around long enough for us to find out! I tune Key Mouse with Lock Cat and Chain Dog!" Andreas called out as the three monsters leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon. "I Synchro Summon Lightning Tricorn!" Andreas announced as he played the card and the large, tri-horned horse appeared on the field (8/2800/2000). "Lightning Tricorn, attack Elphin the Raven!" Andreas commanded and the tricorn charged into battle before impaling the Blackwing Monster destroying him and bringing Raven's life-points down to 7400.

"You've drawn first blood." Raven commented with a hint of anger in her voice. "But as long as Armor Master is on the field, you can't do anything more than that."

"That will change in due time, I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Andreas announced as he set the two cards, he had drawn with Shock Draw and Raven drew her card.

"I summon Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame!" Raven announced as she played the card and a black winged humanoid crow with a blue head appeared on the field (4/1800/1200). "Blackwing Armor Master, attack Lightning Tricorn!" Raven commanded and the armored Blackwing monster flew into battle…and was quickly ensnared by chains. "What?!"

"I activated my Fiendish Chain Trap Card." Andreas responded as he motioned to his trap card. "Which means Armor Master's effect is negated and on my next turn I can destroy him."

"Very clever." Raven responded begrudgingly before she picked up the card she had just drawn. "I set a card facedown and end my turn." Raven announced and Andreas drew his card.

"_I had better destroy Armor Master before she can destroy Fiendish Chain!" _Andreas thought before looking at his drawn card. "I summon Caninetaur!" Andreas announced as he played the card and the centaur with the upper body of a dog appeared on the field (3/1500/200). "Lightning Tricorn, attack Blackwing Armor Master!" Andreas commanded and the tricorn charged into battle before impaling Armor Master on its horn destroying it and bringing Raven's life-points down to 7100. "Good riddance." Andreas added as he and Raven sent their respective cards to the graveyard. "Caninetaur, attack Shura the Blue Flame!"

"I suppose your going to use Caninetaur's effect to discard a Beast Type Monster and power it up?" Raven asked and Andreas hesitated before nodding as he discarded a card and Caninetaur's attack increased to 2000. "A level five monster, not bad but not good enough! I activate my trap card Black Wing!" Raven announced as her facedown card flipped up. "This negates Caninetaur's attack as it's attack points are 2000."

"_A Blackwing Support Card called Black Wing, and I thought the fact that Raven was using Blackwings in the first place was on the nose." _Andreas thought as Caninetaur returned to his side of the field with his attack points back at 1500. "I end my turn." Andreas announced and Raven drew her card.

"Shura the Blue Flame, attack Caninetaur!" Raven commanded and Shura flew towards Andreas's monster before slashing him with his claws destroying him and bringing Andreas's life-points down to 5500. "No monsters to discard? Too bad, when Shura the Blue Flame destroys a monster by battle his effect activates, allowing me to Special Summon one Blackwing Monster from my deck with 1500 or less attack points and its effects negated." Raven added as she started inputting commands into her duel disk.

"_And I'd bet good money that its another Tuner Monster." _Andreas thought with a frown as Raven retrieved her card. _"And it could be trouble for me."_

"I Special Summon Blackwing – Blizzard the Far North!" Raven announced as she played the card and a small blue crow appeared on the field (2/1300/0). "I move to my second main phase, for my normal summon I bring out Blackwing – Gust the Backblast!" Raven announced as she played the card and another small crow appeared on the field (2/900/1400). "I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Raven announced and Andreas drew his card.

"_Two weak monsters and one card in attack mode? I'd bet my dueling career that one of the weaker monsters is a Tuner Monster." _Andreas thought before looking at his drawn card and adding it to his hand. "Lightning Tricorn, attack Shura the Blue Flame!" Andreas commanded and the tricorn lowered its head as it prepared to fire electricity at the monster….

"Ever heard of "look before you leap"? I activate Urgent Tuning!" Raven announced as her facedown card flipped up and the three monsters leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon. "I tune Blizzard the Far North with Shura the Blue Flame and Backblast to Synchro Summon Blackwing – Silverwind the Ascendant!" Raven announced as she played the card and the large black and silver crow humanoid appeared on the field (8/2800/2000). "Feast your eyes on my best monster Andreas, and when he's Synchro Summoned all monsters with less defense points then his attack points get destroyed!"

"Oh no!" Andreas yelled out as Silverwind the Ascendant flew towards Lightning Tricorn and slashed him with his claws destroying him. "By destroying Lightning Tricorn, you activated his effect, allowing me to Special Summon Thunder Unicorn from my graveyard." Andreas explained as Thunder Unicorn returned to the field. "I set one card facedown and end my turn." Andreas announced as he set his drawn card and Raven drew her card.

"_The only monster that could possibly save him is either Red Baboon, Destroyer of the Forrest or Leogun, Lord of the Jungle, both monsters require a lot of set up however so this shouldn't be too hard." _Raven thought as she added her drawn card to her hand. "Silverwind the Ascendant, attack Thunder…..." Raven never finished her sentence as an ear-piercing screech filled the air. "Command Silencer, I'm pretty sure you just scared all the dogs at the shelter with that card."

"Yes, well, I never anticipated having a duel outside an ASPCA shelter when I added this card to my deck." Andreas responded as he shook his head before drawing a card through Command Silencer's effect. "Anything else?"

"Take your turn." Raven responded as she shook her head and Andreas drew his card.

"_Raven's remaining facedown card will be a problem but if I want to get rid of her best monster, it's now or never." _Andreas thought before playing a card. "I summon Mine Mole!" Andreas announced as the small mole in the workers helmet appeared on the field (3/1000/1200). "Next I activate Thunder Unicorn's effect to reduce Silverwind's attack points to 1800…" Andreas's explanation was cut off when chains ensnared Thunder Unicorn. "Fiendish Chain?!"

"What can I say? It's a good card to have." Raven shrugged her shoulders before chuckling. "You won't topple my best monster that easily."

"We'll soon see, I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Andreas announced as he set the two cards and Raven drew her card.

"I no longer have any need for it, so I destroy Fiendish Chain with Magic Planter to draw an additional two cards." Raven announced as her trap card's hologram shattered, alongside the chains ensnaring Thunder Unicorn, and she drew her two cards. "I set this facedown for later and I summon my second Blackwing – Elphin the Raven!" Raven announced as she played the card and the large raven returned to the field. "Silverwind the Ascendant, attack Thunder Unicorn!" Raven commanded and the massive crow flew towards Thunder Unicorn before slashing and destroying it bringing Andreas's life-points down to 4900. "Was that de ja vue just now? No matter, Elphin the Raven, attack Mine Mole!" Raven commanded and the Raven flew into battle…

"I activate Dimension Switch, as long as I keep this trap card on the field Monoceros is removed from play." Andreas announced as his facedown card flipped up and Mine Mole disappeared.

"So, you'd rather take twenty two hundred points of damage again than have a weak monster be destroyed?" Raven asked skeptically before pointing to Andreas. "Interesting strategy, and I'm more than happy to oblige, Elphin the Raven, attack his life-points directly." Raven commanded and the raven flew towards Andreas before slashing him with his claws and bringing his life-points down to 2700. "One attack from Silverwind will win me the duel, was it worth it to save your mole?"

"There is a method to my madness, that much will be made clear soon." Andreas responded as he made his way to his feet. "My move yet?"

"I set one card facedown and end my turn." Raven nodded in response and Andreas drew his card.

"I activate Obedience Schooled! As I control no monsters, this allows me to Special Summon three weak Beast Type Monsters from my deck with their effects negated." Andreas added as he held up three cards. "So, I summon Baby Racoon Tantan, Magmole and the Tuner Monster Elephun!" Andreas added as the three monsters appeared on the field (2/0/800) (2/800/800) and (2/500/300). "Now I activate the second effect of Dimension Switch, sending it to the graveyard to bring back Mine Mole!" Andreas added as Mine Mole returned to the field. "No points in dragging this out, I tune my four monsters together!"

"_A Level Nine Synchro Summon." _Raven thought as she took a step back whilst the four monsters leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon. _"And if it's what I think it is, I'm in trouble."_

"I Synchro Summon Leogun, Lord of the Jungle!" Andreas announced as he played the card and once the bright flash faded Leogun appeared on the field ready for battle (9/2900/2000). "Since I used Mine Mole in a Synchro Summon, I can draw one card from my deck." Andreas added as he drew his card. "Next I activate Synchro Strike! This Trap Card gives my monster five hundred attack points for each Synchro Material Monster used to summon him."

"Making his attack 4400." Raven nodded as Leogun's attack points shot up to 4400. "I'm still not impressed, you have a long way to go before you can beat me Andreas."

"I'm well aware of that." Andreas responded before he played a card. "Which is why I equip Leogun with Megamorph!" Andreas added and if he could see Raven's eyes, he'd know that they were as wide as dinner plates as Leogun's attack points shot up to 8800. "Your lucky that you have more than enough life-points to survive this, but your luck ends there, Leogun, attack Elphin the Raven!" Andreas commanded and Leogun leapt into battle before slashing Elphin destroying him and sending Raven's life-points plummeting down to 500.

"It appears that you overlooked one thing." Raven commented as she folded her arms. "Megamorph's side effect cuts your monster's attack points in half if your life-points are higher than mine." Raven added as Leogun's attack dropped to 2200. "And once Synchro Strike's effect wears off, he'll lose more attack points, all I'll need to do is summon a decent level four monster and the duel is mine."

"We'll see about that, I set one card facedown and end my turn." Andreas announced as he set the card and Raven drew her card. _"All I need to do is move Megamorph over to her monster with Tailor of the Fickle and this duel is over."_

"As I am feeling generous, I activate Spellbook inside the Pot! This will allow us to draw three cards." Raven announced as she played the card and they drew three cards. "It appears that I won't have to summon a card to win this duel, I activate Double Cyclone, destroying my set card and yours." Raven announced as she played the card and a cyclone destroyed both cards. "The set card I destroyed was Blackwing Avenger, when it is destroyed by a card effect, this Trap Card destroys all Spell/Trap Cards on the field."

"No!" Andreas yelled out as Megamorph was destroyed taking Leogun with it. "Well played."

"You too Andreas, Silverwind, finish it!" Raven commanded and the Blackwing Synchro Monster flew into battle before slashing Andreas and bringing his life-points down to zero. "Well played Andreas." Raven said as the holograms disappeared, and Andreas pulled himself off the ground. "I must get going, but we will see each other soon, in the meantime, you both have packages waiting for you back home."

"What do you mean by packages?" Nicola asked but Raven didn't answer as she went to retrieve her camera. "I think we'd better wrap up our volunteer work and head home as soon as possible."

"Agreed." Andreas nodded before they walked off.

"Sophia, it's Raven." Raven said into her earpiece as she put the tripod away and checked the footage. "Only Marcus and Nicola remain, I don't think I'll be able to get footage of Nicola dueling before the announcement."

"They'll be other opportunities, I'm just glad that you stopped those dog nappers." Sophia responded and Raven nodded. "No point in telling you to go to Bensonhurst next, once you and Charles are done in New York return to the island as soon as possible, we need to get everything prepared."

"Understood." Raven nodded before she walked off.


	6. No Pain, No Game

It was now late at night in Los Angeles and Sophia was in her high rise apartment having finished her work for the day a few hours ago, since then she had been going over the footage that Raven had gathered thus far and was happy with it.

"_Could've used more footage of Chloe and Lance but considering the experience and skill level of their opponents, I suppose it couldn't be helped." _Sophia thought as she watched the footage on her desktop pc, she had calmed down considerably since she had spoken to Jade earlier, but the blackmail and photos were still fresh in her mind. _"Worse case scenario, I'll mix in archive footage of Chloe and Lance dueling and considering they've been regular faces at Battle City it shouldn't be too hard to get recent footage of them." _Sophia thought before her train of thought was interrupted by her ringtone and she answered. "Sophia here, what's up?"

"It's Jade, I have a few questions." Jade responded and Sophia frowned. "I know it was probably heat of the moment and all but how did you not notice someone taking pictures of you having sex with different partners? If it was a hidden camera, I'd understand but with those angles, well the cameramen wouldn't have been hard to miss."

"I've been wondering the same thing all day." Sophia responded as she ran a hand through her hair. "There is one sex tape that exists from that period but that is in my possession and will only see the light of day if I'm forced out of my CEO position and get desperate enough to leak it to the internet, and if those pictures do get leaked, well, maybe it will come to that." Sophia added with a frown on her face. "What was the other question?"

"Why are you worried about those pictures? I thought you came out as bi when you were eighteen?" Jade asked and Sophia shook her head.

"Seventeen actually but close enough, it's not the fact that I'm bi that's the problem, if that was meant to be a secret, I'd be doing the worst job ever of hiding it." Sophia responded with a sigh. "I entered into an arranged marriage contract with a colleague's son on my eighteenth birthday, I didn't think much of it at the time because I was still a pro-league duelist and, as you can see from the pictures, I slept around a bit, sometimes with men, sometimes with other women, sometimes with both at the same time, sometimes with two men at the same time, sometimes with two women at the same time….."

"I get the idea, and I'm guessing that stopped when you took over from your father." Jade realized and Sophia nodded. "And if your colleague finds out that you were sleeping around, at best you'll be sued for breach of contract."

"And at worse, hello white collar prison." Sophia nodded with a sigh. "At most I'd get a year in jail but I'll be forced out of the company and someone appointed by the Board of Directors would take over, I'll still have my father's money to fall back on when I get out but all the work I've done to modernize Duel Monsters will be flushed down the toilet, I don't think I need to explain why I can't let that happen." Sophia added before messaging her temples with her free hand. "You didn't call me to ask me something you could've asked in an e-mail."

"Exactly, I may have a lead as to how Claudio got his hands on these pictures, or why they exist in the first place, at around the same time that you were adopted Claudio made several payments to a private detective agency based in LA, one that specializes in catching the target with their pants down so to speak." Jade added and Sophia frowned as the implications set in. "Very popular with rich wives who think their husbands are cheating on them with a secretary."

"Or if the daughter of a business rival is violating a contract by getting laid." Sophia responded with a frown on her face. "I was adopted when I was fifteen, I hadn't even lost my virginity yet at that point, what was Claudio doing when he contacted that agency."

"That's a good question, something I'll need to look into." Jade responded with a shrug and Sophia frowned. "I did some digging on Claudio himself, he was a pro-league duelist for years before he retired to form his company."

"Makes sense, a pro-league duelist running his own sponsor company just screams conflict of interest." Sophia nodded with a frown on her face. "I never met him before I was adopted so I'm guessing he wasn't successful."

"The opposite actually, he was the regional champion of California before you swooped in and took the vacated spot." Jade responded as she shook her head. "What level were you at before you were adopted?"

"I had just graduated from North Academy when my parents were killed in the car accident, I didn't learn that fact until I was on my way back to the mainland, but I knew something was wrong when my step-father, a long time friend of my family, picked me up from the docks in his limo." Sophia responded before sighing. "Sorry for bumming you out before I wasn't anywhere near the champion's radar at the time."

"No worries, I'll keep digging into this detective agency and what they have to do with Claudio." Jade responded before Sophia got an idea.

"Have you made contact with them?" Sophia asked and Jade paused. "The detective agency that is."

"No, I wanted to call you first." Jade responded as she shook her head. "You have a plan?"

"Call me back in the morning with the agency's number, I want to turn Claudio's actions against him." Sophia responded with a grin on her face. "Tell them to not worry about payments, it's not like I'm short on cash, now if you excuse me, it's about time I hopped in the shower."

"Just don't invite anyone to join you." Jade responded with a chuckle and Sophia rolled her eyes. "It's early in the morning here in Brisbane so I'll call you at 5:00pm my time."

"Just don't wake me up in the middle of the night, I won't be happy." Sophia added before hanging up, Sophia sighed before going over to her bathroom and removing her crop top with the I2 logo on it. _"You want to blackmail me Claudio?" _Sophia thought as she removed the rest of her clothing and hopped in the shower. _"Two can play at that game, your duelist will still compete, but I learned from father how to turn an enemy's threat against them." _Sophia thought as she turned on her shower and started washing herself.

*the next day*

Planet Fitness in Bensonhurst, New York was having a typical day as the gym was packed with either fitness freaks or people trying to get in or stay in shape, and for one former Duel Academy student he was trying to do the latter.

"99…...1000!" Marcus called out as he finished his round on the bench press and sat up, out of all the students from Chloe's graduation class Marcus had changed the most appearance wise going from an overweight student with short black hair to a lean, muscular duelist doing his best to stay in shape and his hair was the only thing that remained the same from his days in Duel Academy. "Not my best record but it's a start."

"Hey, as long as you stay in shape, that's the main thing." Marie commented as she leaned against the exercise equipment, the former Orichalcos Duelist had turned her life around completely with Marcus's help and she now enjoyed modest success in the pro-leagues alongside her boyfriend. "Any idea when our next tournament is?"

"Well, we failed to qualify for the World Championships so probably after that." Marcus shrugged his shoulders before he stood up and wiped his brow. "Speaking off, can't believe Brandon proposed to Theresa after he won their duel."

"Wonder if they'll have their honeymoon in Sydney?" Marie wondered but the young couple failed to realize that someone was watching them from nearby.

"_Sophia's file said that his appearance had changed drastically." _Raven thought as she watched Marcus and Marie talk from the nearby hand weights which Charles was struggling to lift. _"Didn't expect that drastic a change though, let's hope I can get some footage of him dueling." _Raven thought before Charles gave up on trying to lift the hand weight. "Na litosc Boska Charles, those things can't weigh much more than the camera!"

"Give me a break Raven, I was more interested in computers than gym growing up!" Charles protested and whilst her eyes remained hidden under her hood, Charles was still close enough to see Raven roll her eyes at his comment. "So, you think we'll get any footage of Nicola dueling?"

"Sophia said that if we fail to get footage of her, she still has archive footage of Nicola dueling to fall back on." Raven responded before she spotted another young couple entering the gym. "Speak of the devil and she shall appear."

"Huh?" Charles asked before looking up and seeing Nicola emerge from the women's changing room and she was quickly joined by Andreas who emerged from the men's changing room. "Huh, guess we didn't have to go to the ASPCA yesterday after all."

"I don't see a duel disk on either of them and I helped save two dogs from dog nappers, so I wouldn't consider the ASPCA trip to be completely pointless." Raven responded as she shook her head whilst they watched Andreas and Nicola talk among themselves. "For now, let's keep our distance and see what happens."

"So, any thoughts on what was in the packages?" Nicola asked as they walked towards where Marcus and Marie were talking though she didn't really notice them at first. "Should be interesting at least."

"On that, we're agreed." Andreas nodded though before they could progress that conversation any further Andreas spotted Marcus. "Morning Marcus." Andreas greeted his friend and Marcus looked up.

"Morning guys." Marcus greeted them and Nicola looked up before grinning. "I heard there was some excitement at the ASPCA shelter you guys volunteer at."

"Just a couple of dog nappers, they would've gotten away if a Polish woman hadn't alerted us." Nicola shrugged her shoulders in response as she glanced at Marcus. "By the way, have you guys received anything from I2?"

"You mean like packages?" Marcus asked and Nicola nodded at which point he shook his head. "I know Chloe, lance, Chelsea, Theresa, Brandon and the Kaiba siblings mentioned getting packages from I2 on Facebook but I just assumed that they had started a Loot Crate like service."

"If they had, I think it's safe to say we would've all signed up for it by now." Nicola responded as she shook her head unaware that Sophia was listening in through Raven's earpiece.

"_Hmmm, a subscription service where subscribers get a box of goodies every month or so?" _Sophia thought as she listened in. _"Might be a nice source of revenue, if I can get the dinosaurs in the Board of Directors on board off course, no pun intended."_

"Well, I'd love to stay and chat, but we were about to leave." Marcus commented and Raven frowned as she listened in. "Then again, you do owe me a rematch from our match in the last Battle City Semi-Finals."

"Still salty that I prevented you from getting past the first round of the Adelaide Battle City Tournament, are you?" Nicola joked before grinning. "As luck would have it, I did bring my disk with me, it's back in the locker room."

"Sounds good to me, meet me outside after your done?" Marcus offered and Nicola nodded before they left.

"_Well, well, seems I'll be getting my footage of Nicola dueling after all." _Raven thought as she watched Nicola get on a treadmill and Andreas start on a rowing machine. _"And I'll get footage of Marcus dueling as well, looks like I'll be killing two birds with one stone."_

*later, outside the gym*

Once Andreas and Nicola were done with their workout it didn't take Nicola long to get changed out of her workout gear and into her day clothes nor did it take her long to retrieve her duel disk from the locker, once she was sure that her deck was in its holster and her duel disk was working properly she went outside the gym were Marcus was waiting for her.

"You have a good workout?" Marcus asked once Nicola stepped out of the gym alongside Andreas, Marcus was standing across the street from them and it didn't take Nicola long to figure out what he had in mind, especially since his duel disk was active, she nodded before activating her duel disk and Marcus grinned. "Good, because now that your body's gotten a work out, I'm going to give your deck a work out!"

"Oh, you mean your deck's going to act as a punching bag?" Nicola asked with a grin and Marcus chuckled before they drew their opening hands. "Seriously though, I'm hoping for a good duel today Marcus." Nicola added as she went over her hand. "Haven't had a good duel since the World Championship Qualifiers."

"Andreas couldn't have gotten that bad since the World Championship Qualifiers, right?" Marcus asked with a raised eyebrow and Nicola laughed whilst Andreas sweat-dropped.

"Nah, we've just been busy with our volunteer work at the ASPCA." Nicola responded before folding her arms. "So, who's going first?"

"I am." Marcus responded before he went over his opening hand, the two duelists were completely unaware that they were being filmed from a nearby alley.

"Just remember Charles, this is the last duel we have to film." Raven reminded him as she leaned against the alley wall and Charles kept his camera trained on the action. "And once we're done, I have to get the footage to Sophia before the announcement tonight, so don't screw this up."

"Don't worry about me, you just worry about standing there and looking mysterious." Charles responded as he zoomed in on the duel and Raven remained motionless.

"I start by activating Cards of Consonance! By discarding a weak Dragon-Type Tuner I can draw two cards!" Marcus announced as he played the card and quickly discarded his monster before drawing twice. "Next I set two cards facedown and I summon Axe-Blade Dragon!" Marcus added before he played the cards and a large red dragon carrying an axe appeared on the field (4/1900/1200). "It's your move!"

"Right, I draw!" Nicola announced as she drew her card, she added it to her hand and looked over the field. _"I was expecting him to use his old combo with Cards of Consonance and White Stone of Legend, then again a lot can change in five years and that goes double for Duel Monsters decks." _Nicola thought before looking at her drawn card and playing it. "I activate Terra-Forming! With this I can search my deck for a Field Spell and add it to my hand."

"_And knowing Nicola, there could only be one card that she's searching out." _Marcus thought as Nicola added the card to her hand after inputting commands. _"Let's see if I'm right."_

"No point in keeping you in suspense!" Nicola announced as she played the card. "I activate Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins!" Nicola announced as she played the card and the scenery changed to the ruined city with the rainbow over it. "Probably a good thing there's no cars around, otherwise this would get confusing for them, then again Turbo Duels have been a thing for a while now." Nicola commented before shaking her head. "But enough about that, I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode to end my turn."

"_Even so, she has a point about the cars on the road." _Marcus thought as he drew his card and added it to his hand. "I activate Dragon's Rage! Now all my dragons will inflict piercing damage! Axe Blade Dragon, attack her defense monster!" Marcus commanded and the dragon flew towards Nicola's facedown monster before it went to slam the axe down….but the axe bounced off it. "Huh?" Marcus asked before the monster revealed herself to be a young maiden in rainbow colored robes (1/0/0). "Maiden of the Crystals, I had heard that they had released more Crystal Beast support."

"Yeah, still disappointed that I never got to use them in the tournament." Nicola nodded as her life-points dropped to 6100. "Maiden of the Crystals can't be destroyed by battle as long as I have a card in my Spell/Trap Card zone and when she is attacked, I can add a Crystal Beast from my deck to Spell/Trap Card zone." Nicola added before she started inputting commands into her duel disk. _"I can't keep this up for much longer with Dragon's Rage on the field, I need to go on the offensive sooner rather than later!" _Nicola thought as she added the card to her Spell/Trap Card zone and let her deck auto-shuffle.

"That's not the only effect that activated, when Axe Blade Dragon inflicts battle damage, I can draw a card, if I draw a dragon, I can draw another card but that's all I get." Marcus responded before he drew his card, he took one look at the card, added it to his hand and drew another card. "I set a card facedown and end my turn." Marcus announced and Nicola drew her card.

"_If I don't turn this around soon, I'll lose the duel." _Nicola thought before looking at her drawn card and grinned. "I tribute Maiden of the Crystals to summon Crystal Beast – Rhodzite Rhino!" Nicola announced as she played the card and Maiden of the Crystals disappeared from the field and was quickly replaced with an amber colored rhino with a crystal imbedded in its horn (6/2500/1200). "Rhodzite Rhino, attack Axe Blade Dragon!" Nicola commanded and the rhino charged into battle before impaling Axe Blade Dragon on its horn destroying it and bringing Marcus's life-points down to 7400. "When Rhodzite Rhino destroys a monster by battle, and I have a Crystal Beast Monster in my Spell/Trap Card Zone he also destroys a face-up trap card on the field!"

"Wait, what?!" Marcus yelled out before Rhodzite Rhino rammed straight through Dragon Rage's hologram destroying it. "Man, I can never get that card to stay on the field for longer than a turn." Marcus muttered under his breath as he sent his two cards to the graveyard. "Anything else Nicola?"

"Go for it." Nicola responded as she shook her head and Marcus drew his card.

*meanwhile*

Whilst Raven was filming Marcus's and Nicola's duel Sophia was going over the video footage from all the duels Raven had filmed through a multi-monitored PC at her home office in Los Angeles.

"_Okay, just splice in footage from older duels from Chloe and Lance and that should compensate for their short duel." _Sophia thought as she went over the footage in her office, Raven had told her about the duel between Nicola and Marcus during Nicola and Andreas's work out so that wasn't a problem for Sophia either. _"Just need the footage from Marcus and Nicola's duel and I'll be all set for the announcement."_

"Err, Ms. Pegasus?" Sophia's secretary's voice broke her train of thought and Sophia turned to the phone to her left. "There is a man here to see you, Claudio Caruso?"

"Send him up." Sophia responded before hanging up and turning her attention back to the footage, as she waited, she set her phone to record the conversation and a few minutes later the elevator doors opened before Claudio stepped into the room. "Blackmailing me and sending sexually explicit images of me having sex with people wasn't enough for you was it, Claudio?" Sophia asked once the elevator doors closed and she slowly turned around. "You had to go and make a personal visit, didn't you?"

"Don't act like your so innocent Sophia." Claudio responded as he folded his arms and glared at the woman. "Your hacker friend from Australia wasn't as subtle as she thought, my cyber security caught the security breach last night."

"By which point, I had everything I needed to turn your tactics against you." Sophia responded as she stood up and walked up to Claudio, whilst Sophia was tall for a woman Claudio was still easily a foot taller than her. "So, tell me, does your family know about the son you had with a prostitute? And the hush money you paid her to keep it a secret? If you were smart, you would've had that detective agency sign a non-disclosure agreement once your transaction was completed but they told me that not only have you continued to see prostitutes, but you have at least a few sons and daughters around, I'm sure your wife will be thrilled to learn that."

"I can't help but find it amusing that someone who whored herself out in defiance of a contract feels that she can lecture me about my sexual life." Claudio countered and Sophia's eyes narrowed. "If you were smart, you'd pretend that you had never discovered that."

"Here's the difference between us Claudio." Sophia responded before she walked over to her desk and sat on it. "All my sexual partners? They were either fellow pro-league duelists or close associates and we always practiced safe sex but with the amount of offspring you've got running about? Do you even know what a condom is?" Sophia added as Claudio walked up to her. "So, the question is, what do you want from me to keep this little secret from getting out to the press?"

"I could ask for several things, but I just want one thing." Claudio responded before leaning in close and putting his hands on Sophia's shoulders. "You."

"And yet you blackmailed me for having a healthy sex drive, not sure if I should call that hypocrisy or irony." Sophia responded and Claudio frowned. "One condition, you wear a condom, otherwise? Well, I'll just call Jade and have her leak the info to the press." Sophia added and Claudio reluctantly nodded "You'll find the condoms in the en suite, don't worry, there are some in tiny dick size to suit you." Sophia added and Claudio said nothing before he went into the bathroom, once the door was closed Sophia grabbed her phone and started sending a text alongside the recording.

*back in New York*

"_Her Rhino will be a problem unless I deal with it soon." _Marcus thought as he glanced up at the rhino, he looked at his hand and grinned. _"And I have just the thing to deal with it." _Marcus thought before playing a card. "As you control a monster and I don't, I can special summon Vice Dragon!" Marcus announced as he played the card and the large, purple dragon appeared on the field (5/2000/24000). "However, since I summoned him this way his attack points are cut in half." Marcus added as Vice Dragon's attack points dropped to 1000. "Now I activate my facedown card Call of the Haunted to bring back the Tuner Monster I discarded two turns ago."

"I was wondering when that was coming into play." Nicola commented as a small black dragon with red-eyes appeared on the field (2/300/200). "Red-Eyes Hatchling, Sophia can't get enough of the past, can't she?"

"Guess not." Marcus shrugged his shoulders before pointing to his two dragons. "I tune my dragons together!" Marcus announced as the two dragons took to the sky and he retrieved a card from his extra deck whilst they performed the Synchro Summon. "I Synchro Summon Exploder Dragonwing!" Marcus announced as he played the card and once the bright flash faded the large, Asian style dragon appeared on the field with a roar (7/2400/1600). "On his own, he isn't enough to bring down your rhino but since Red-Eyes Hatching was used in the Synchro Summon of a Dragon Type Monster he gains five hundred attack points until the end of the turn."

"_That's not good." _Nicola thought as Exploder Dragonwing's attack points shot up to 2900. _"Especially with Exploder Dragonwing's effect!"_

"And that's bad news for you and your Crystal Beasts! Exploder Dragonwing, attack her rhino!" Marcus commanded and the dragon breathed fire at the rhino destroying it. "And since Exploder Dragonwing is stronger than your Rhino, the rhino's attack comes out of your life-points!" Marcus added and Nicola winced as her life-points dropped to 3600. "Looks like your Crystal Beasts will soon be on the endangered species list."

"Not funny." Nicola responded with an annoyed look on her face as the rhino appeared in her Spell/Trap Card Zone and Marcus winced.

"Yeah, your right, that was in bad taste." Marcus responded before playing a card. "Before I end my turn, I activate Magic Planter, destroying Call of the Haunted so that I can draw two cards." Marcus added as the trap card shattered and he drew two cards. "I end my turn." Marcus announced and Nicola drew her card.

"_It's okay Nic, you've been in worse positions before, like when you scored the upset over Chloe at last year's Battle City." _Nicola thought as she drew her card. "I summon Crystal Beast – Sapphire Pegasus!" Nicola announced as she played the card and the beautiful sapphire Pegasus appeared on the field (4/1800/1200). "This activates her effect, allowing me to search my deck for another Crystal Beast and add it to my Spell/Trap Card zone." Nicola added as she started inputting commands into her duel disk.

"_She knows that Ancient City's effect only works on Battle Damage, right? I just need two attacks and this duel will be over." _Marcus thought as Nicola retrieved the card from her deck and placed it into her Spell/Trap Card Zone. _"What's she up to?"_

"I activate Reckless Greed, now I can draw two cards in exchange for my next two draw phases." Nicola added before she drew two cards and sent her trap card to the graveyard. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

"Fine, but it's your funeral." Marcus announced as he drew his card, however as soon as he did Nicola's older facedown card flipped up. "Forbidden Chalice!"

"Just because I'm behind on life-points doesn't mean I'm going down that easy." Nicola responded as Exploder Dragonwing doubled over in pain as its attack increased to 2800. "Your dragon may be stronger, but he loses his effect."

"Fine, but I'll still attack you." Marcus responded as he pointed to Crystal Beast – Sapphire Pegasus. "Exploder Dragonwing, attack Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus!" Marcus commanded and the dragon prepared his breath weapon….

"I didn't just negate Exploder Dragonwing's effect to protect my life-points, I did it to make this move possible." Nicola added as her other facedown card flipped up. "Wild Nature's Release added Sapphire Pegasus's defense points to her attack points, she'll be destroyed during the end phase but it's worth it!" Nicola added and Marcus's eyes widened as Sapphire Pegasus's attack points shot up to 3000, she effortlessly dodged the breath weapon by flying over it before kicking Exploder Dragonwing in the head destroying it and bringing Marcus's life-points down to 7300.

"I end my turn, meaning your Pegasus is destroyed." Marcus responded as Sapphire Pegasus shattered and appeared in Nicola's Spell/Trap Card Zone and Nicola skipped her draw phase due to Reckless Greed.

"_Okay, time for my big comeback." _Nicola thought before playing a card. "I activate Crystal Promise, with this I can target one Crystal Beast in my Spell/Trap Card Zone and Special Summon it! I summon Crystal Beast – Ruby Carbuncle!" Nicola added as she played the card and the small ruby cat appeared on the field (3/300/300). "And when she's Special Summoned I can bring out as many Crystal Beasts from my Spell/Trap Card zone as possible so welcome back Rhodzite Rhino, Sapphire Pegasus and the tuner monster Garnet Dolphin!" Nicola added as the three crystal beasts appeared on the field with the dolphin appearing last (2/500/200). "Since I special summoned Sapphire Pegasus again her effect activates." Nicola added as another Crystal Beast appeared in her Spell/Trap Card Zone. "No point in dragging this out! I'm tuning Garnet Dolphin and Ruby Carbuncle together!"

"_Man, this is almost the same move she won her match against Chloe with!" _Marcus thought as the two monsters leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon. _"This isn't good!"_

"I Synchro Summon Crystal Beast – Diamond Dino!" Nicola announced as she played the card and once the bright flash faded the large diamond colored dino appeared on the field (5/2200/1700). "Since I Synchro Summoned him, the two Crystal Beasts I used will go to my Spell/Trap Card Zone instead of the graveyard." Nicola added as the two Crystal Beast monsters appeared in her Spell/Trap Card Zone. "I think you know what's coming next Marcus, I'm about to end this duel."

"Nicola, I still have most of my life-points intact, good luck with that." Marcus pointed out before frowning as he realized something. "You haven't normal summoned yet."

"Yep, and I use my Normal Summon to bring out Crystal Beast – Amber Mammoth." Nicola announced as she played the card and the amber colored mammoth appeared on the field (4/1700/1600). "Go my Crystal Beasts, end this duel!" Nicola commanded and the three four monsters launched their attacks at Marcus bringing his life-points down to zero. "Good duel Marcus." Nicola complemented him as the holograms disappeared and Marcus waited to make sure that there were no cars coming before crossing the street and shaking the autistic woman's hand.

"Would've been better if I had won but against someone with your talents? I can't really complain." Marcus responded and Nicola grinned as she got the complement. "You mentioned getting something I2?"

"Yeah, a couple of large packages. I would tell you the contents but it's better that you see them for yourself." Nicola responded and Marcus raised an eyebrow before nodding. "I guess we'll see you around."

"Yeah, I guess." Marcus nodded before he and Marie headed to their car as did Andreas and Nicola.

"And that's the last duelist footage done." Raven commented as Charles finished the recording. "Did you get that Sophia?"

"Indeed, I did, you two are to fly back to Los Angeles on the double, as always, I've paid for your air travel so don't worry about that and as promised Raven you now have a spot in the tournament for your efforts." Sophia responded and Raven nodded. "Speaking off, I've got an announcement to make."

"Understood." Raven nodded before she left with Charles.

*later*

It didn't take long for Marcus and Marie to return to their home and when they did, they found the packages waiting for them.

"So, you want to open yours first, or should I?" Marie asked as she put both packages on the dining room table, Marcus opened his first and the couple looked inside. "Star chips, a chip glove and a DVD, is this a retro themed loot box or something?"

"I don't know, maybe you should open yours." Marcus suggested and Marie did just that finding the same contents. "Well, it would be rude to not see what's on the DVD." Marcus commented before he popped the DVD into the player, once he found the channel a familiar face appeared on the screen. "Sophia Pegasus?"

"I guess she's going all out for this loot box." Marie commented before Sophia started talking.

"Greetings duelists, I am Sophia Pegasus, daughter of Maximillian Pegasus and the current CEO of Industrial Illusions.

Forty years ago, my stepfather hosted a grand tournament at his island home inviting duelists from all over the world to compete, that tournament is now known as Duelist Kingdom and whilst many of the rulesets established in that tournament have long since been abandoned, it is notable for one thing, being the tournament where Yugi Moto won his title of King of Games.

Whilst Duelist Kingdom remains an important part of dueling history, the tournament hosted at the island remained a one off for many years whilst Battle City has received regular iterations and is the most important tournament of the Duel Monsters calendar, this year marks the end of that long cycle.

In two weeks from now, we will be celebrating the 40th anniversary of Duelist Kingdom and I plan to celebrate it in grand fashion, on Friday the 20th of April, I will make the announcement public but until then you are to keep this a secret, Duelist Kingdom is returning but not in the way you remember it, the tournament will be called Virtual Kingdom and it will take place in a virtual world hosted at my father's castle on the island, don't worry about air travel because that will be covered and the prize for the winner will be grand.

To those who accept my invitation, I say good luck, and may the best duelist win, for I will be competing as well."

"A virtual tournament." Marie commented as the DVD ended. "What do you think?"

"I think it sounds like a hell of a time." Marcus commented and Marie grinned in response. "We should contact our agents to make sure we can compete." Marcus added and Marie nodded before grabbing her phone.

*back in LA*

Sophia had just made the announcement over the Facebook live and it had gone down a treat just as she had expected, the announcement was almost the same as the one she had made on the DVD but with a few keywords changed but it didn't take long for the dueling world to be buzzed for the announcement.

"_Let's hope my skills aren't too rusty." _Sophia thought as she glanced towards her deck which was in her custom duel disk, she didn't have sex with Claudio in the end as she had Jade send the recording of that conversation to his wife prompting him to rush home so he could explain himself. _"His duelist will still compete but hopefully he'll think twice about trying something like that again."_

"_You mess with forces you cannot hope to comprehend child." _A dark, demonic voice rang out and Sophia's head snapped up before she glanced around her home office. _"We will meet soon."_

"Who's there?!" Sophia called out but she got no response, she grabbed her cellphone and dialed a number on her speed-dial list. "Theodore, it's me, have you had any visitors since Claudio left?"

"No ma'am, things have been quiet down here." Sophia's head of security responded, and Sophia frowned. "Something we should be concerned about."

"It's probably nothing but keep me posted." Sophia responded before hanging up, on the far wall was a portrait of her step-father and Sophia glanced up at it. _"It wouldn't be a duel monsters tournament without some ancient evil rearing its ugly head." _Sophia thought as she turned to her father's portrait. _"Father was that evil during the original tournament, I hope to subvert that at Virtual Kingdom." _Sophia thought before she stood up and stood in front of the portrait. _"I hope I can do you proud father."_


	7. Duel Academy Reunion

The next two weeks flew by in the dueling world as duelists from all over the world got ready to attend the Virtual Kingdom Tournament, Sophia had spared no expense inviting duelists at the national and regional level regardless of skill level.

"Well, today's the big day." Chelsea commented with a grin as she loaded the last of her suitcases into Beth's car, she had initially planned to ride to O'Haire International Airport on her motorbike but once she realized how much bags she needed to pack she opted to have Beth drive her to the airport as Chelsea only had a license for her Motorbike. "Pity you didn't get invited Beth." Chelsea added and Beth shook her head.

"I learned a long time ago that my Anti-Cure Deck doesn't do well on the pro-leagues." Beth responded as she shook her head. "Besides, I've got that new job at North Academy starting soon, can't really take two weeks off to compete in a tournament."

"True enough, but I'm confident that you'll make a great teacher." Chelsea responded before kissing her girlfriend, just as she broke the kiss a few cars pulled up and several familiar faces stepped out of them. "You guys came to see me off?" Chelsea asked as she looked at her five siblings plus her sister in law Monica and her niece Jasmine.

"We wouldn't have missed this for the world." Jamie commented as she walked up to her younger sister. "This is the biggest tournament of your dueling career so far, can't believe you got Brad to announce that you'll be putting he regional championship on the line."

"Hey, had to create some more buzz for me." Chelsea grinned before leaning against the car. "Okay, granted the dueling committee shot that idea down because I can't defend the title outside of Illinois, but I did say that anyone who beat me in the tournament was welcome to try to beat me in a rematch for the title in Illinois." Chelsea added before Jasmine ran up to her. "Jasmine, be good whilst I'm overseas okay?"

"I will auntie!" Jasmine promised as Chelsea knelt next to her and ruffled her niece's hair. "Can I ride with you on your bike when you get back?"

"Let's not go that far." Monica responded with a nervous laugh as she stepped forward and Chelsea glanced up. "I never liked those things."

"Tell you what Jasmine." Chelsea said as she turned to her niece. "Behave yourself at school and get all straight As and I'll take you on a guided tour of Chicago on my bike."

"You've got a deal!" Jasmine responded excitedly and Monica groaned before Chelsea stood up.

"You realize she'll hold you to that, right?" Monica asked and Chelsea nodded with a grin. "Still, good luck in the tournament Chelsea, we'll be rooting for you."

"I'll do you guys proud." Chelsea responded before she hopped in the car and Beth drove off.

*over in Domino City*

As the ship to Duelist Kingdom was departing from Domino Pier the duelists who lived in Domino City didn't have as much preparing to do but that didn't mean those duelists weren't ready for action.

"Okay, that's my next two weeks booked off and dads agreed to dogsit whilst we are away." Chloe commented as she got off the phone with her step-dad, she turned to Lance who was currently feeding Rex and Nala in the kitchen. "You booked your time off, right?"

"Yeah, booked it over the weekend." Lance responded as he glanced up at Chloe. "So, from our graduating class, who's competing?"

"Not counting us?" Chloe asked as she adjusted a bra strap. "I think it's quicker to say everyone really, Chelsea's even putting her title on the line in an unofficial capacity." Chloe added before she walked over to Lance and kissed her boyfriend. "Well, everyone except Beth but we know how badly she washed out at her first tournament."

"Yeah but to be fair, she faced the defending champion in the first round." Lance responded as he shook his head. "At least Chelsea was able to avenge her and take the title."

"Here, here." Chloe nodded in agreement before they walked around the dogs and they looked up as Chloe and Lance approached the door. "Sorry guys, we'll be back soon I promise." Chloe apologized before they left.

*across town*

Tyler and Miranda had been ready for this since they watched the DVD using every ounce of their free time to train and prepare their decks and for good reason.

"I think our decks are as ready as they'll ever be." Tyler commented as he looked at his deck, the two siblings had met up at Tyler's apartment to go over their decks one last time before they left for Domino Pier. "At least, I hope so."

"Father didn't even compete in the original Duelist Kingdom." Miranda nodded in agreement as she went over her deck. "His ego was still bruised from the first loss to Yugi, I wonder if Yugi would still be King of Games if father had competed."

"Let's be honest Miranda, his ego has always been bruised from that loss." Tyler pointed out and Miranda nodded in agreement. "And don't tell him I said this, but I think Yugi still would've won the tournament if dad had competed, there's a reason why he refuses to talk about his one and only win over Yugi." Tyler added and Miranda grinned in response. "Pretty sure Mai Valentine wouldn't have made it to the final four if he did compete though."

"True enough, besides "Mai Valentine"?!" Miranda asked with an amused look on her face. "With a real name like that I'm surprised she never went into porn." Miranda added as Tyler took a sip from his can of red bull. "She certainly has the assets to make a killing in that field." Miranda added and Tyler nearly spat out the contents of his drink.

"I never realized that you tended to look at other women that way." Tyler responded and Miranda blinked a couple of times before realizing what he meant. "Not that there's anything wrong with that…."

"I'm going to stop you there Tyler, I'm pretty sure I would've outed myself by now if I was gay or bi." Miranda responded as she blushed a deep red color. "I'm hardly the only female pro-duelist who's made that joke, anyway, seriously why did her parents call her "Mai" with a surname like that."

"Good question." Tyler nodded with a nervous laugh before they heard a car honking its horn. _"Saved by the car horn." _Tyler thought with a sigh of relief before turning to his step-sister. "I think that's our ride, let's get going before this gets any more awkward."

"That would be a lifetime achievement award for awkwardness." Miranda responded with a slight laugh before they left the apartment.

*over in New York*

Back in America, the duelists who were based in New York where leaving via New York International Airport and where currently in the departure lounge waiting for the flight to Domino City.

"As if the idea of a tournament set in a virtual world wasn't weird enough." Nicola commented with a sigh as she glanced up at her older step-brother. "But your competing as well?"

"You know it sis!" Zach Hastings responded as he sat next to his sister who was sitting next to Andreas. "Besides, I can't remember the last time we competed in a tournament together."

"Last year at Battle City." Nicola reminded him with a deadpan expression on her face. "I knocked you out in the first round of the Semi-Finals, remember? And I just realized that that means I owe you a rematch." Nicola added with a sigh as realization set in. "How many decks are you up too?" Nicola added knowing her brother had many decks at his disposal.

"I lost count." Zach responded and Nicola nearly face-faulted out of her seat. "But I'm only taking three with me." Zach added and Nicola breathed a sigh of relief once she regained her composure. "The guide book did say to bring at least three decks."

"You do know what the term "at least" means right?" Andreas asked and Zach shook his head. _"I swear, if it weren't for the fact that they are step-siblings I'd be wondering how Nicola and Zach are brother and sister! Never mind the fact that they don't look anything alike." _Andreas thought before looking up and seeing a pair of familiar faces. "Marcus, over here!"

"Oh, hey guys!" Marcus greeted them as he and Marie ran over. "You guys ready for the tournament?"

"Ready as we'll ever be." Nicola responded with a grin as she shared a fist bump with Marcus and Marie. "And Zach's competing as well."

"Oh, that'll be fun." Marie responded as she shook her head. "Still I can't wait for the tournament, any ideas of what it'll entail?"

"You guys didn't read the guide book?" Zach asked and they turned to him. "Then again, I was confused by it myself, something about deck masters? I guess we'll find out once we get there."

"Deck Masters is a rather obscure rule." Theresa's voice rang out and they glanced up seeing Theresa and Brandon approaching them. "Basically, you take one card out of your deck and that acts as your deck master, that monster gains new abilities but if that monster is destroyed you automatically lose the duel."

"Man, that does sound confusing." Nicola responded with a laugh as she shook her head. "No wonder it never took off." Nicola added before grinning at Theresa and Brandon. "By the way, congrats on the engagement."

"Thanks, you're the five hundredth person who's congratulated us since I popped the question." Brandon responded with a laugh and Nicola grinned in response. "We're still arguing over whether we should have the wedding in Sydney to coincide with the World Championships or in New York for convenience."

"Arguing already and you're not even married, that's probably not a good sign." Andreas deadpanned getting a laugh out of Theresa and Brandon. "If you know about the Deck Masters rule then you must be ready for the tournament."

"Ready as we'll ever be." Theresa responded with a grin before turning to Brandon. "Besides, someone owes me a rematch from the qualifiers."

"Join the club." Nicola responded as she motioned to Zach and Marcus nodded in agreement before motioning to Nicola, before either of them could say anything else they heard the flight call for Domino City. "If that's not perfect timing, I'm not sure what is."

"Can't argue there." Brandon nodded in agreement before they boarded their flight, little realizing that Raven was boarding their plane as well.

*meanwhile*

Sophia was already on her way to Duelist Kingdom Island via her private jet, however the tournament wasn't the only reason why she was flying to the island.

"_Father hasn't left the island since he retired." _Sophia thought as she went over the last of the profiles on her laptop, _"Perfectly content to live in his big fancy castle, if I was poor, I'd think it was an excellent case for taxing the rich." _Sophia thought before shaking her head, she was currently in her business attire with her long hair in a ponytail though she would be wearing her casual attire once the formalities were done. _"Father's dealt with ancient evils before, maybe he has some advice, hopefully it won't amount to "maybe your hearing things." _Sophia thought before her phone rang and she put it on speaker. "Sophia here, what's up?"

"There's been a last minute addition to the tournament." Robert responded and Sophia frowned. "I know you wanted to avoid this because of what happened at the original Battle City but, well, one of the competitors you selected fell ill and we needed a last minute replacement."

"How convenient." Sophia sighed in annoyance as she ran a hand down her face. _"I've not even touched down on Duelist Kingdom and things are already going to shit." _Sophia thought before shaking her head. "Who is it?" Sophia asked and once she got her answer she nearly bolted out of her seat. "CLAUDIO?!" Sophia demanded as she slammed her hands onto the desk nearly causing the air stewardess to jump out of her skin as a result.

"Please don't shoot the messenger." Robert winced as Sophia calmed down. "I know you've had trouble with him recently, but he is a former champion and like you he's only coming out of retirement this one time."

"Why don't we invite Marik Ishtar to come out of retirement whilst we're at it?" Sophia asked with an annoyed sigh before shaking her head. "He understands that he'll be under tight scrutiny once the tournament starts, right?"

"He understands." Robert nodded and Sophia sighed.

"_This has to be his revenge for costing him his marriage, there's no other way," _Sophia thought as she messaged her temples in annoyance. "Send me his profile as soon as possible, and please tell me that's the only last minute change?"

"Yes, we should be in the clear from here on out." Robert responded and Sophia sighed in relief. "See you on the island."

"_Just once, I'd like a tournament to take place without something going wrong." _Sophia thought as she leaned back in her seat. _"Still, if Claudio tries to come onto me again, he'll be disqualified faster than you can say "no means no"."_

*several hours later*

By now Sophia had touched down on Duelist Kingdom and all the competing duelists had arrived at Domino Pier and at the front where Chloe, Lance, Tyler, Miranda, Chelsea, Andreas, Marcus, Marie, Nicola, Brandon and Theresa though aside from the couples they hadn't noticed each other yet.

"Attention duelists, welcome to the Virtual Kingdom Tournament!" The I2 Representative greeted them as he stood on the ship. "Sophia can't be with us right now as she awaits you at Duelist Kingdom Island, however she has prepared the following speech." He added before clearing his throat. "Welcome duelists young and old, in a day's time you will arrive at my father's island home where the tournament will begin, the only thing I can say to you without sounding like a broken record is good luck and may the best duelist win." The representative added before pocketing the speech. "Please board the ship single file, you will be shown to your quarters as soon as possible."

"_This is it." _Chloe thought as she glanced up at Lance who grinned at her. _"Don't think I've been on a ship since I left Duel Academy Island for the last time now that I think about it, hopefully I don't get sea sick." _Chloe thought before the duelists boarded the ship, as soon as they were on board it didn't take long for Chloe and Lance to be shown to their room but as Lance went to insert the key Chloe spotted a familiar face nearby. "Chelsea?" Chloe asked and Chelsea looked up before grinning broadly.

"Chloe!" Chelsea greeted her old roommate happily as she ran up to the couple, whilst her room wasn't next door to Chloe and Lance's Chelsea's room was still two doors down from them. "Man, how long has it been?"

"I think the last time we saw each other was when we left Duel Academy Island after graduation." Lance responded before exchanging a fist bump with Chelsea. "How's life been treating you? Last I saw you, you were excited about becoming an aunt."

"Yeah well, considering that I'm gay, it's probably the closest I'm going to get to having a kid of my own, either that or me and Beth decide to adopt." Chelsea responded with a grin before sighing. "My sister in law gave birth to a healthy baby girl a year later, I'll tell you one thing, even I was surprised at how good I am with kids, considering that I still swear like a sailor and my past temper issues."

"Yeah and we're happy to hear it." Chloe responded with a grin. "Is Beth competing?" Chloe asked and Chelsea shook her head.

"She found out the hard way why anti-cure decks don't do well in the Pro-Leagues, she kinda gave up on trying to make a career for herself as a Pro-Leaguer after her third tournament." Chelsea responded with a sigh before shaking her head again. "But she will be able to use what she's learned, she's about to start a teaching job at North Academy."

"That's good to hear at least." Lance responded before they heard their stomachs rumble. "How about we get packed and catch up some more over dinner?"

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Chelsea nodded in agreement before she returned to her room and Chloe and Lance entered their room.

*elsewhere on the ship*

The ship had sailed off by the time Chloe, Lance and Chelsea had reached their rooms and by now most of the duelists had packed away their things in their rooms and were now looking around the ship whilst looking for old friends or something to eat.

"_Some faces I recognize, some I don't." _Nicola thought as she glanced around the ship hand in hand with Andreas, their room happened to be near the portside of the ship which allowed them to get their packing done relatively quickly and where currently in the ship's restaurant looking for a bite to eat. _"All that matters once we get to the island is reaching the finals, I'm still not sure about this Deck Master system but the guide did say there'd be a list of deck masters with their abilities once we get in game." _Nicola thought before turning to her boyfriend. "Any ideas for what's in store for us once we get to the island?"

"Other than a good time? No, not really." Andreas shrugged his shoulders before leading her to an unoccupied table where they sat down and looked at the menus atop it. "You?"

"Pretty much the same thing." Nicola nodded as she leaned back in her chair after deciding on what she wanted to eat, Andreas made his choice as well and they waited for the waitress to come over. "In all honesty I just want to win my first tournament, come to think of it I think Chelsea's the only person from our graduation class who's won a tournament."

"Well, yes, she would need to win one to become the Illinois Regional Champion." Andreas pointed out before he a waitress came over.

"Hi, are you guys ready to order?" The waitress asked and they nodded.

"I'll have a rib-eye steak, medium rare please." Andreas responded and the waitress nodded before she turned to Nicola.

"I'll just have a burger please." Nicola added and the waitress nodded before taking the menus away and heading towards the kitchen. "I'm almost surprised that we haven't run into anyone we know but on the other hand, this is a big ship."

"I'm sure we will run into someone, we ran into Theresa, Brandon and Marcus at the airport so I don't see why we couldn't run into the others." Andres responded before he glanced around, it was at that point that he spotted Chloe, Chelsea and Lance looking for a place to sit and grinned. "I must be developing psychic powers of some kind, Chloe, Lance, over here!" Andreas called out to them and the three duelists looked up before grinning and running over to their table. "Been a long time friends." Andreas greeted them with a big grin which they returned.

"You can say that again." Lance nodded in agreement before they grabbed their own, three seater table. "You guys run into anyone else?"

"We ran into Theresa, Brandon and Marcus at the airport and there has been talk about Miranda and Tyler being on the ship, not that we've seen them." Nicola responded with a nod. "You guys know what's in store for us at the island?"

"I don't know but then again I think the only person who knows for sure is Sophia." Chloe responded before the waitress returned with Andreas's and Nicola's meals and she, Lance and Chelsea picked up menus. "I'm just ready for a good duel really."

"I here that." Chelsea nodded in agreement before she looked at her menu.

*later, elsewhere on the ship*

There was one duelist on the ship who had chosen to remain in her room, and that Polish Duelist had her own reasons for doing so.

"_Sophia told me about her unexplained visitor last night." _Raven thought as she typed away at her laptop, as she was on her own, she had taken off her signature trench coat revealing that she had shoulder length raven black hair though it was messy due to her almost always keeping her hood up. _"I don't know what this is about, but I had better stay on top of it, even as the tournament progresses."_

"_Foolish child." _The same demonic voice responded, and Raven stopped mid-type. _"You will soon get a taste of my power." _The voice added and Raven bolted from her chair, threw on her trench coat and duel disk before putting her hood up and bolting from her room.

*back at the restaurant*

By now the gang was all back together and they were either discussing Theresa's engagement to Brandon or how much Marcus had changed since he left duel academy, however that blissful peace was quickly broken as a male voice screamed out in terror from the crowd of duelists.

"What was that?!" Chloe asked as she stood up and the others followed suit, without another word they raced towards the source of the voice and saw a young duelist being consumed by a dark light. "Okay, this raises more questions than answers."

"Yeah but since when is anything with this game straight forward?" Chelsea deadpanned as the light disappeared and the duelist lowered his head. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Foolish mortal." The duelist responded in a dark, demonic voice that clearly wasn't his as he held up his arm and produced a jet black duel disk out of thin air. "Duel me now or die!"

"I thought we left that behind after the Orichalcos was defeated." Chloe commented before she stepped forward. "Fine, I'll duel you but whoever you are, you will release your hold on him once I beat you."

"Fine, but you won't win." The demon responded before they activated their duel disks.

"Damn it, I'm too late." Raven cussed as she raced to the scene and saw the duel about to begin. "Sophia, there's been an incident on the ship." Raven said into her earpiece and Sophia sighed.

"Already?!" Sophia demanded with an annoyed tone of voice and Raven nodded. "Please tell me someone's dealing with it?"

"Chloe Richardson is dealing with it, she should have the matter cleared up." Raven responded as the two duelists drew their opening hands. "Do you want footage of the duel?"

"No need, I have access to the ship's security cameras from my office on the island." Sophia responded as she shook her head. "And right now, my eyes are trained on the duel, the profile I have on the duelist lists him as Gavin Freeman, eighteen years old dueling prodigy from Hertfordshire in England, runs a Spellcaster deck."

"I don't know what accent he's speaking with, but it doesn't even sound remotely English." Raven responded before she turned her attention to the duel.

"I'll go first." Gavin announced without giving Chloe a chance to ask before he went over his hand. "I set two cards facedown and I summon Dark Executioner!" Gavin announced as he played the cards and a tall man in a traditional executioners' hood wielding a massive axe appeared on the field ready for battle (4/2000/1000). "Dark Executioner can't attack you directly unless I have less than four cards in my hand, it's your move." Gavin explained before Chloe drew her card.

"I wasn't aware that you were still releasing four star curse monsters." Raven commented as Chloe went over her hand. "And that doesn't look like a Spell Caster."

"The four star curse was based on an antiquated idea from the early days of the game, the fact that my company has released more monsters like Alexandrite Dragon and Gene-Warped Warwolf should tell you everything you need to know." Sophia responded as she observed the footage. "Also, that is not a legal I2 card, even if Gavin didn't run Spellcasters it would've been flagged the moment he attended his first major tournament but until now, we haven't had any problems with this duelist."

"Understood." Raven nodded before she turned her attention back to the duel.

"_Nothing in my hand that can attack over Dark Executioner, but it's not like that's the only method I have of beating that monster." _Chloe thought as she went over her hand before picking up two cards. "I set a card facedown and I activate Arcane Barrier! Every time a Spellcaster I control is destroyed by battle this gets a counter and it can hold a maximum of four counters." Chloe explained before she picked up another card. "We'll get to its other effect in a few turns, but until then I activate a Field Spell, Endymion's Magic Sanctum!"

"_I had heard of this card." _Raven thought as the scenery around the two duelists changed to the ground floor of a seemingly impossibly tall tower that was light blue in color and had slots the size of the orbs produced by Magical Citadel of Endymion on the walls. _"Glad to see Chloe using it at least, the original Endymion field spell is quite outdated."_

"I set a card facedown and that ends my turn." Chloe announced as she set the card and Gavin drew his card.

"Dark Executioner, attack her defense monster." Gavin commanded and the executioner charged towards the defense monster, revealed to be Apprentice Magician (2/400/800) but before Chloe could explain her monster's effect Dark Executioner messily decapitated the young spell caster spilling her blood everywhere before the hologram shattered. "Don't worry, your monster's effect still goes off." Gavin added whilst Chloe threw up in her mouth.

"_Note to self, try to avoid getting attacked directly by that thing if at all possible." _Chloe thought as she sent Apprentice Magician to the graveyard. "When Apprentice Magician is destroyed by battle, I can search my deck for another Level Two or lower Spellcaster monster and summon it in defense mode." Chloe explained before she started inputting commands into her duel disk.

"Summon all the monsters you want." Gavin mocked her with a sadistic grin. "They will all meet the executioner's blade at the end of the day!"

"_In a way this makes me glad that this tournament is strictly eighteen or over, wouldn't want any kids getting traumatized." _Chloe thought before she set the monster and let her deck auto-shuffle. "In addition, Arcane Barrier gets its first counter and since a card has gained a counter so does Magic Sanctum." Chloe explained as Arcane Barrier glowed, and the first slot was filled in. "Anything else or can I take my turn?"

"As a matter of fact, yes." Gavin responded as his facedown card flipped up depicting several people being hung from the gallows. "Condemned to the Gallows states that if a monster was destroyed by battle this turn, I get to conduct another battle phase, only this time? My monster can attack you directly if its effects are negated! Dark Executioner, attack her life-points directly!" Gavin commanded and the executioner sprinted right past Chloe's set monster before slashing her across the arm and bringing her life-points down to 6000, however that was the least of Chloe's worries as she spotted something that troubled her.

"_Is that blood? Great, the attacks are real." _Chloe thought as she glanced at her bleeding arm, the bleeding wasn't that severe, but Chloe could see where this was going. _"Great, it's my first Orichalcos Duel all over again! Only this time? I'm not leaving in an ambulance."_

"Sophia, I'm assuming you saw the result of that last attack." Raven commented with a frown as she watched the duel. "Can you shut it off?"

"If it was that simple, I would've shut off the duel the moment it became clear that Chloe's arm was bleeding." Sophia responded with concern clear in her voice. "But Chloe's duel disk is a standard KaibaCorp model, I would ask Kaiba but he's still flying in on that ridiculous jet off his and besides, I'm not even sure where Gavin's duel disk came from, let alone if Kaiba can shut it off! Rest assured, I will be showing Kaiba the footage when he does arrive."

"Best part is? Condemned to the Gallows is a Continuous Trap Card, I can use it as many times as I want." Gavin added before Chelsea returned from where the first aid kits were being kept with a roll of bandages and Chloe let her former roommate bandage up her arm. "For no additional cost, I hope your friend has plenty of bandages."

"_And that's easily the most broken card I've seen since the Orichalcos Days." _Chloe thought before glancing over at Chelsea. "Any thoughts Chelsea."

"Well, Condemned to the Gallows would make for a killer death metal song title." Chelsea responded and Chloe sweat-dropped in response. "Other than that? I suggest destroying that thing ASAP."

"You haven't changed at all over the past five years, have you?" Chloe asked and Chelsea laughed in response. _"And if that thing was smart, he'd have something like Imperial Iron Wall to protect his trap, luckily for me, I have a trap card of my own." _Chloe thought as her trap card flipped up. "I activate Magical Recovery! As I have lost life-points and a Spellcaster monster I control has been destroyed I can draw one card for each thousand life-points lost." Chloe added as she drew two cards. "And here's the kicker, since one of them is a Spellcaster I can special summon it to the field on the condition that it remains in defense mode! So, come on out Magical Exemplar!"

"More sheep to the slaughter!" Gavin scoffed as the green haired sorceress appeared on the field in defense mode (4/1700/1400). "She won't help you! I end my turn." Gavin announced and Chloe drew her card.

"_Chelsea's right, either I destroy that Trap Card or I'm in for a world of hurt." _Chloe thought as she added the drawn card to her hand, she took one look at it and quickly played it. "If this isn't proof that heart of the cards is a thing then I don't know what is! I activate Mystical Space Typhoon and I use it to destroy Condemned to the Gallows." Chloe announced as she played the Spell Card and a storm washed over the field…...

"Did you really think it would be that easy?" Gavin asked as his other facedown card flipped up depicting a rather gruesome scene as the ancient execution known as sawing was depicted albeit being performed on a member of Goblin Attack Force with the variation where the victim was sawed upside down being used.

"_I never thought I'd see the day where I felt sorry for a member of Goblin Attack Force." _Chloe thought with a wince as she noticed several male members of the crowd forcing themselves to not look at the artwork, Andreas, Marcus, Lance, Tyler and Brandon included. "I'd like to take a moment to sarcastically congratulate you on traumatizing every other guy in this room, likely for the rest of their lives and that includes my boyfriend, but how doers that stop Mystical Space Typhoon?"

"I'm glad you asked, Sawed to Death counters one Spell Card by redirecting it at another target, such as your Sanctum!" Gavin responded as the Storm started to attack the sanctum instead.

"I activate my Sanctum's effect! If it would be destroyed by a card effect, I can remove one Spell Counter instead." Chloe responded as the orb disappeared. "More importantly, since I played a Spell Card Magical Exemplar gains two Spell Counters." Chloe added as two orbs started floating around Magical Exemplar, however as they did Chloe realized that Sawed in Half was still on the field. "Another Continuous Spell? I'm just going to say it right now, if these cards were approved by Sophia Pegasus, I'm running around the ship in nothing but my underwear later!"

"Chloe, let's be honest, the guys in the room will probably appreciate the eye candy after seeing that artwork." Chelsea pointed out and Chloe sweat-dropped once she realized Chelsea had a point. "I know I will."

"True enough I guess." Chloe admitted before playing another card. "I activate Foolish Burial, unless you want to direct this to your own deck, I'm going to use this to send one monster from my deck to the graveyard."

"I have no monsters that would serve me better in the graveyard." Gavin responded and Chloe nodded before she started inputting commands into her duel disk. "Like it'll help you, my monsters will overrun yours before you can use it."

"I wouldn't count on that." Chloe responded as she picked out a monster and sent it to the graveyard. Once two more orbs appeared around Magical Exemplar's head and her deck auto-shuffled Chloe made her move. "I activate Magical Exemplar's effect, giving up one Spell Counter to Special Summon Blaster Jester from the graveyard." Chloe announced as she played the card and a man in a jester's outfit juggling several sticks of dynamite appeared on the field (1/0/0). "Since I expanded a Spell Counter it will go to Magical Sanctum." Chloe added as the orb reappeared in the slot. "Now I flip summon my facedown monster, Clear Effector!"

"_Chloe's going for her old standby Synchro Summon combo." _Chelsea realized as the young sorceress with even longer hair than Chloe's appeared on the field (2/0/800). _"It's served her well in the past but who know what this guy has in the wings!"_

"And now for the Main Event! Since Blaster Jester is a Tuner Monster, I can tune him with Magical Exemplar and Clear Effector!" Chloe announced as the three monsters leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon. "I Synchro Summon Inferno Magician!" Chloe announced as she played the card and once the bright flash faded a new monster appeared on the field revealing it to be a magician in red robes carrying a staff of fire (7/2400/2000).

"Impressing." Gavin scoffed as he stared at the monster. "Your branching out a bit with your extra deck monsters."

"Yeah, well, maybe it's influence from dating a gut with a fire deck for the past five years but either way, first I draw a card since I used Clear Effector in a Synchro Summon." Chloe added before drawing her card. "And since I sent Magical Exemplar to the graveyard with three Spell Counters those counters go to the sanctum." Chloe added as three more orbs were filled in. "And there's more! You see, since I used Blaster Jester to Synchro Summon a Fire Type Monster, I can destroy one card for each Synchro Material used, since I used two monsters I'll destroy Condemned to the Gallows and Sawed to Death." Chloe announced (causing every male in the room to breath a sigh of relief in the process) as the Magician pointed his staff ready to destroy the cards…...however Dark Executioner suddenly charged forward and chopped off Inferno Magician's arm destroying him. "What now?"

"Oh, did I forget to tell you about the rest of Dark Executioner's effect? Once per turn, if a monster would destroy two or more cards on the field, that monster is destroyed instead." Gavin explained and Chloe's eyes widened before she sent her monster to the graveyard. "Your one saving grace is that you haven't normal summoned yet, not that it's much of a saving grace."

"_So, to recap, I need to destroy Dark Executioner and Sawed to Death ASAP but they both protect each other, if it weren't for the fact that I've taken real damage in this duel, I'd complement him for using such an effective strategy!" _Chloe thought before picking up three cards. "I set three cards facedown and end my turn." Chloe announced and Gavin drew his card.

"I summon Maiden of the Gallows." Gavin announced as he played the card and a young woman with a noose around her neck appeared on the field ready for battle (4/1200/1600). "As I have summoned Maiden of the Gallows whilst Condemned to the Gallows is in play, she gains five hundred attack points for each Trap Card I control." Gavin added as Maiden of the Gallows' attack points increased to 2200. "Dark Executioner, attack her defense monster." Gavin commanded and executioner charged towards the facedown monster, revealed to be Chloe's second Apprentice Magician which was quickly destroyed.

"You should know the routine by now." Chloe commented before she started inputting commands into her duel disk, she placed a third monster facedown and waited for her deck to auto-shuffle whilst Arcane Barrier glowed, and another orb slot was filled in. _"I'd better hope this works."_

"Maiden of the Gallows, attack her last line of defense." Gavin commanded and the maiden charged into battle before punching the last Apprentice Magician destroying her. "As Maiden of the Gallows destroyed a monster this turn, she will deal five hundred points of damage to your life-points." Gavin added as Chloe's life-points dropped to 5500 and Chloe started inputting commands into her duel disk whilst Arcane Barrier glowed again, and another orb was filled in.

"_Five spell counters down, two to go." _Chloe thought as she glanced up at the orbs before placing her monster down and turning to Gavin. "Are you going to conduct your second battle phase or what?"

"You already know the answer." Gavin responded with a sadistic grin before pointing to Chloe. "Dark Executioner, Maiden of the Gallows, attack her life-points directly!" Gavin commanded and the two monsters charged into battle before hitting Chloe with their attacks bringing her life-points down to 1300. "Give up now, foolish women!"

"I said it once, and I'll say it again." Chloe responded as Chelsea bandaged up her scared arm as that was where Dark Executioner had hit her. "I'll never give up as long as I have life-points left! I activate my facedown card Damage Condenser! I send one monster from my hand to the graveyard to Special Summon a monster who's attack power is equal to or less then the damage I just took, I chose Silent Magician Level 4!" Chloe added as the younger version of her ace monster appeared on the field (4/1000/1000). "She may not look like much, but she's my key to winning this duel."

"If you think I'm going to let you bring out Silent Magician Level 8, your surely mistaken, make your move." Gavin responded and Chloe nodded before drawing her card.

"_If I had a dollar for each time an opponent told me that and for each time, I've used the life-points line I wouldn't need to work at dad's shop because I'd be set for life!" _Chloe thought before going over her hand. "I flip summon my facedown monster, Old Vindictive Magician!" Chloe announced and Gavin's eyes widened before the old mage appeared on the field (2/450/600) before he casted a spell at Dark Executioner destroying him, once he was destroyed the holograms of Gavin's trap cards went with him returning Maiden of the Gallows' attack points to normal. "I thought so, your trap cards need Dark Executioner to be on the field, don't they?"

"Unfortunately, yes." Gavin responded as he grit his teeth. "But I'm not out of this duel yet."

"My next combo says otherwise, I send Arcane Barrier and Old Vindictive Magician to the graveyard so I can draw three cards." Chloe announced as her two cards vanished from the field and Chloe drew three cards. "That means that all the counters on Arcane Barrier go to the Magic Sanctum." Chloe added as three more slots were filled in. "I activate Magic Sanctum's effect, by giving up seven of those counters I can Special Summon Endymion, the Master Magician from my hand, deck or graveyard." Chloe added as seven of the orbs vanished and the armored Spellcaster appeared on the field ready for battle (7/2700/1700). "Magic Sanctum also gives him five hundred attack points for each Spell Counter I've used to summon him." Chloe added as Endymion's attack went up to 6200. "He'll be destroyed during the end phase, but we won't get that far."

"What makes you so sure of that?" Gavin asked before Chloe played another card.

"This card does, I activate Level Up to bring out my best monster!" Chloe announced as Silent Magician Level 4 started glowing and growing until she reached her adult form (8/3500/1000). "Silent Magician Level 8! And now to drive the point home, I equip her with Megamorph!" Chloe announced and Gavin's eyes widened as Silent Magician Level 8 doubled in size and power to 7000. "I don't know who or what you are, but you had better release him once you are beaten! Silent Magician Level 8, Endymion, finish him!" Chloe commanded and the two magicians launched their attacks at Gavin's monsters destroying Maiden of the Gallows in the process and bringing Gavin's life-points down to zero.

"No! I was so close!" Gavin cussed as he started glowing again. "You haven't seen the last of me!" The spirit possessing Gavin added before he stopped glowing and the duel disk and deck disappeared. "What happened?" Gavin asked in his regular voice as Chloe approached him. "Chloe Richardson? Oh my gosh, I'm a huge fan! Can I have your autograph?"

"Later." Chloe responded with a small smile before shaking her head. "Do you have any memory of our duel?"

"There was a duel?" Gavin asked and Chloe sweat-dropped in response. "I'd certainly remember wanting to duel you, you were listed among those I wanted to avoid in the tournament!"

"_Not sure if I should take that as a complement or not." _Chloe thought as Raven approached them. "Hey, your…."

"I'm glad you remember me Chloe, but there isn't time for pleasantries." Raven interrupted her as she folded her arms. "We need to talk, in private." Raven added as she motioned to Chloe's group and Gavin. "And we both know we won't have time for this once the tournament starts."

"Right." Chloe nodded as the others approached Raven. "Lead the way." Chloe added before they followed Raven.


	8. Quote the Raven, Nevermore

It had been twenty minutes since Chloe's duel against Gavin and whilst Gavin was off being checked over by the medical staff to make sure that he was okay following the duel the others were walking behind Raven as she led them to one of the rooms on the upper deck off the ship, Raven hadn't spoken much since approaching the group but after a few minutes the Polish woman stopped in front of one of the rooms and knocked.

"Jade, it's me." Raven called out to the person occupying the room and the others shared a look. "The duelists are with me."

"Hold on a sec." The Australian woman responded, and a few seconds passed before the door opened, Jade was around Chelsea's height with shoulder length jade green hair and blue eyes though her hair was currently in a ponytail, she had several tattoos on her body including two dragon sleeves down her arms and flames just above her breasts. "I know Sophia gave us the biggest rooms on the ship, but I think your underestimating just how many people I can fit in this room without getting uncomfortable." Jade commented as she looked at the group behind Raven.

"Yes, well, you know why I brought them here, we shouldn't take that long." Raven responded, and Jade nodded before she stepped aside to let the others into the room which had an Alienware Laptop on the desk and various other tech gadgets sprawn about the room. "Most of you have met me in person." Raven stated as she turned to the group. "Only three of you recognized me from the Las Vegas Battle City Tournament but I must confess, when we did meet, I wasn't being entirely honest with you." Raven added as she sat down on the bed. "I used various cover stories over that week when we met but the truth is? I am an employee of Sophia Pegasus, same goes for Jade here."

"Just as I thought." Tyler nodded as he folded his arms. "Why the secrecy Raven?"

"I was tasked with scouting all of you ahead of this tournament and personally delivering the packages you each received." Raven added before removing her hood and glancing up at the group. "However, I could not divulge the whole truth until after Sophia made the announcement that brought us here, I didn't think we were going to have a conversation like this until after the tournament started but then that duel happened."

"And that's why my arms are bandaged up." Chloe commented as she glanced as the two bandaged areas, the bleeding had stopped by now, so the bandages were largely there to prevent infection. "You said we needed to talk, like you knew what had happened to that kid and why."

"Unfortunately, the truth is, I know just as much as you do." Raven responded before motioning to Jade. "But Jade has a theory."

"Like Raven said, it's just a theory." Jade responded as she turned to the group. "But there's one item I can think off with the power to control people's minds like what happened to Gavin, the Millennium Rod, originally wielded by Marik Ishtar during the original Battle City."

"Aren't we forgetting something? The Millennium Rod is buried somewhere in Egypt alongside the other Millennium Items." Chelsea chimed in as she folded her arms. "I'm not saying it's impossible to relocate but it's not like Egypt is a small place either."

"True, which is why this disturbs me more." Jade responded before loading up archive footage from the original Battle City, namely when Marik Ishtar dueled Mai Valentine in the first round of the Semi-Finals. "Marik's evil side took over him during the tournament and too say things took a turn for the worse for the other competing contestants is an understatement, said evil side was though to be defeated by Yugi Moto in the final match of the tournament but I fear that it's returned."

"No offense Jade, but the original Battle City was just over thirty years ago." Brandon responded as he shook his head. "If that evil spirit was capable of returning, don't you think he would've by now?"

"I was skeptical as well." Raven added as she turned to Jade. "Until Jade did a voice comparison using the archive footage, it's a seventy percent match, not a perfect match but Jade thinks that has to do with his possession victim being from England instead of Egypt."

"So, the evil spirit that possessed Marik Ishtar is back and looking for a new host?" Lance asked and the two women nodded. "But this tournament will be taking place in the virtual world system, I don't think the spirit will have an easy time trying to possess victims whilst they are inside."

"You won't be spending all your time in the virtual pods, due to Health and Safety reasons you'll be let out after a few hours for dinner, bathroom breaks and whatever else you feel like doing." Jade responded before she frowned. "And that'll give the spirit a perfect opportunity to possess someone."

"But how do we deal with it?" Theresa asked with a frown on her face. "We've only dealt with supernatural threats once, when the Orichalcos resurfaced five years ago, since then we've led fairly normal lives."

"That maybe but clearly, someone out there thinks your anything but normal." Raven responded as she folded her arms. "The Legendary Dragons could've chosen anyone to be their new hosts to combat the Orichalcos, including any three of the pro-league duelists who helped you prepare, yet it targeted one inexperienced duelist from Osiris Red, her boyfriend in Ra Yellow and one of the best female duelists in Obelisk Blue, did you ever ask yourselves why?"

"I've probably asked myself that question more than the others now that you mention it." Chloe admitted with a sheepish grin on her face. "I improved a lot over my first few months at Duel Academy but even I'd admit that there were far better duelists even among my fellow Osiris Red dormmates, just ask Chelsea who was my roommate at the time, so yeah I have wondered why I was chosen instead of someone with more experience to wield Timaeus."

"As Raven said, clearly someone up there thinks that your destined for great things Chloe and the same goes for the rest of you." Jade chimed in before frowning. "Wish we have more info to give you, but truth is, we're just as clueless as you, if this spirit does return, we need to be on our guard even when we're in the Virtual World system."

"Jut one thing before we go, you mentioned that you are both employed by Sophia." Brandon commented with a raised eyebrow. "In what capacity exactly?"

"We don't work for Industrial Illusions if that's what your asking." Jade responded as she shook her head. "I've known Sophia since her days as a pro, she employs me for my hacking abilities, Raven works as a scout off sorts, scouting out duelists on the rise in the dueling world like the seven of you."

"In this particular instance, my job as to get footage of each of you dueling and deliver the packages that you got Sophia's invitation in it." Raven chimed in as she leaned back. "We'll be in touch during the tournament, possibly beyond the tournament if need be, depends on how long this spirit lingers around for, in the meantime, it's getting late and I believe it's time we headed to our rooms."

"It's not that late Raven, it's still only 8:00pm." Jade shrugged her shoulders as she looked at the time on her laptop. "Might be a good idea to get as early a start as possible, the ship will likely dock at Duelist Kingdom at 9:00am tomorrow, barring any delays."

"We'll keep that in mind." Tyler nodded before they left the room with Raven in tow.

*twenty minutes later*

Raven had split off from the group not long after the meeting leaving the others to their own devices, Chloe was currently leaning on the railing with her arms crossed looking at to the ocean.

"_I thought I left all this supernatural stuff behind when I graduated Duel Academy." _Chloe thought with a sigh as the wind blew through her long hair. _"Not counting Silent Magician of course, still at least we don't have to worry about losing our souls this time." _Chloe thought before she heard footsteps behind her and looked up, she grinned when she saw the familiar face and stood up whilst keeping her arms crossed. "Came out here to gather your thoughts as well Theresa?"

"It was either that or spend the rest of the night in me and Brandon's room." Theresa shrugged as she walked up to the shorter woman. "And don't get me wrong, I wouldn't have started dating Brandon in the first place if he wasn't good company, but I wanted a chance to catch up with the others before the tournament started." Theresa added and Chloe nodded before resting her hands on the railing. "So, how have things been on the pro-leagues for you?"

"Been pretty steady for me and Lance." Chloe shrugged her shoulders after thinking for a minute. "Won a tournament here and there but unlike Chelsea we have yet to win any major titles, closest I came was last year when I made it to the finals of the Domino City Regional Championships but even though I lost we both gained enough recognition to get our first agent from a large managing company." Chloe added before shaking her head. "My agent wanted to give me a nickname to go by, "Five Feet of Glory", that went out the window when I pointed out that I'm five foot two and not five foot nothing."

"Yeah, "Five Foot Two Inches of Glory" doesn't have the same ring to it, does it?" Theresa laughed and Chloe nodded in agreement with a grin on her face. "Where you able to come up with another one?"

"Well his next suggestion was "sugar and spice", as in I was all sweet with my warriors and spellcasters whilst Lance was all spicy with his fire deck." Chloe responded before shaking her head. "I couldn't shoot that idea down fast enough. Eventually was just decided to stick with my real name and go off my success in the Battle City Tournaments but that did lead to me and Lance getting a major sponsorship deal so it's not all doom and gloom." Chloe added before looking at the hand that had Theresa's engagement ring on it. "And then there's the elephant in the room."

"Huh?" Theresa asked before realizing what Chloe meant. "Yeah, you probably heard about me and Brandon's engagement on Social Media."

"It was hard to miss, I'll say that much." Chloe nodded in response before sighing. "I'm happy for you and Brandon but at the same time, I'm wondering when Lance is going to get around to popping the question."

"I think he's just waiting until the moment is right." Theresa assured her before frowning and checking to see if anyone was nearby. "On a similar subject, you ever wonder what you'll be like as a mom?"

"Because of my biological dad, right?" Chloe asked with a frown on her face as she glanced towards the scar on her arm which was inflicted by her dad when she was seven. "That's been at the back of my mind ever since i brought a house and moved in with Lance, on one hand, I'm worried that I'll end up being just as bad or even worse a parent than he was but on the other hand? I spent my teen years being determined to prove that I'm nothing like the failure he thought I was, and I'm determined to be a much better parent than he ever was." Chloe added before shaking her head. "And yes, I know that bar is super low, but I'm determined to not be the product of the sins of my father."

"I think your doing a great job of that already." Theresa nodded as she put a reassuring hand on Chloe's shoulder and Chloe grinned in response. "Far as I'm concerned, you have nothing to worry about, your father was an alcoholic and about as far removed from a good parent as possible, but you've made something of yourself in spite of that."

"Thanks Theresa." Chloe nodded with a grin before sighing. "Enough of the depressing shit, we have a tournament to look forward too and last I checked, I'm just one win away from avenging all the losses to you at Duel Academy, I think we should duel if we ever meet up in the tournament."

"And then have one last tie breaker to determine who the best duelist is between us once and for all?" Theresa asked and Chloe nodded. "Your on, but my deck has improved a lot since our last meeting."

"I can say the same thing." Chloe nodded in agreement before the two women exchanged a fist bump. "Still I look forward too it, that said I can think of a few people I don't want to face, namely anyone on the National Level."

"That I can understand but you did well when you faced one in an expulsion duel but that was five years ago." Theresa nodded before they got ready to head to bed. "I think it's time we headed back to our rooms."

"Sounds good to me, see you in the morning." Chloe responded before the two women walked off.

*elsewhere on the ship*

Whilst that was going on in one part of the ship several other duelists were back in the mess hall.

"Honestly? I was hoping to get at least one duel in before we docked." Chelsea commented as she leaned against the desk, she was talking with Andreas and Nicola in a now mostly deserted with a few duelists scattered around. "I didn't really care who I dueled against, as long as I got some practice in."

"You'll get a chance soon." Nicola assured her and Chelsea grinned in response. "But I think the duel between Chloe and Gavin kinda killed the mood for any more dueling for the rest of the night, especially that Sawed to Death Trap Card."

"Thank you for reminding me of the card that will give me nightmares for the rest of my lie." Andreas grunted in annoyance and Zack, who was standing nearby, nodded in agreement. "Even so, there's no way those execution cards were legal cards, right? Beyond how broken they were, that was some graphic imagery for a game made by a mainstream company."

"Gee, a deck that came with a jet black duel disk that appeared out of nowhere contains broken cards? Who'd have thought." Chelsea responded sarcastically not noticing another woman approaching her. "Gavin said that his real deck is nothing like that and since the cards disappeared alongside the duel disk, we can't really test them, pretty sure that no man in their right mind wants to see the Sawed to Death artwork again for that matter."

"Come on Chelsea, we both know you've seen worse imagery on Death Metal album covers." A new, female voice rang out and Chelsea blinked a couple of times before looking up, the woman had jet black hair in a mohawk and blue eyes and she had several piercings and tattoos on her body, she was dressed in a typical metalhead getup but despite her rough appearance she was attractive. "Been a long time hasn't it?" The woman asked and Chelsea grinned broadly.

"Kylie? Holy shit, it has been a long time!" Chelsea responded with a grin before clapping hands with the slightly shorter woman. "I didn't know you were competing."

"What? You thought I'd turn down a chance to take I2's newest toys out for a spin?" Kylie asked with a grin and Chelsea laughed. "By the way, I am coming for that title."

"Good luck with that, there's a reason why I've held that Illinois regional championship for the past five years." Chelsea responded before noticing the confused looks on her companion's faces. "Oh right, almost forgot, guys this is Kylie Millar, she was my first girlfriend."

"Oh yeah, you mentioned her a couple of times back in Duel Academy." Nicola nodded before shaking Kylie's hand. "I'm Nicola, this is my boyfriend Andreas."

"I thought I recognized you guys from TV." Kylie responded with a grin and Nicola grinned sheepishly. "So, Chelsea, you gone back to dating guys yet?"

"Nah, still dating another woman." Chelsea responded as she shook her head. "I met my current girlfriend whilst I was at Duel Academy, we even graduated in the same class." Chelsea added before glancing around the room and frowned. "Oh great."

"Huh?" Kylie asked before looking up and seeing who Chelsea had spotted, a tall, good looking male duelist with short brown hair and blue eyes. "Wait, isn't that the duelist you punched?"

"Yep, the very same." Chelsea sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "Pretty much the only reason I haven't run into him is because he had moved on to the National Scene by the time, I hit the Pro-Leagues, was hoping I'd never see him again."

"Didn't Katrina say that he's one of the nicest guys on the American scene?" Andreas asked remembering Chelsea's duel against the Chinese National Champion and Chelsea nodded.

"She did and whilst that may be true, I still have bad memories associated with that guy." Chelsea responded as she turned her attention to Andreas. "At least if we meet up in the tournament, I can avenge my loss to him."

"Does that loss even count though? By your own admission, you were running a generic beatdown deck at the time instead of your current Watt deck." Nicola pointed out and Chelsea shook her head.

"It's still a black eye on my record, both the loss and the year I spent in juvie for assault." Chelsea responded before the others winced. "What?"

"He's coming this way." Andreas responded and Chelsea glanced over at him. "It might be nothing, maybe he's just retiring to his room for the night…..."

"Aren't you Chelsea Cunningham?" The male duelist asked, and Chelsea hesitated for a second before nodding. "I'm Ray Toombs, the duelist you faced at that school tournament?" Ray asked and after a minute she nodded once she recognized the name. "Man, I almost didn't recognize you with all your tattoos, piercings…"

"Yeah, well, my appearance is hardly the only thing that's changed since then." Chelsea responded with a nervous laugh. "Still kinda bitter at your agent for pressing charges."

"Former agent, I fired him almost immediately after your conviction." Ray responded and Chelsea grinned in response. "Glad to see that you were able to bounce back from that though."

"I'd be lying if I said that it was easy." Chelsea responded as she shook her head. "And I'll be looking to avenge that loss, though if you do beat me, I can guarantee that they'll be a hundred percent less broken noses."

"Well, we are competing in a virtual world so if you do manage to break my nose in game and it transfers over to real life, I'd be more impressed by how far technology has come along." Ray joked and Chelsea laughed in response. "I think it's time I headed to bed, good luck in the tournament Chelsea."

"You too." Chelsea responded before letting out a deep breath once he was out of earshot. "That's a lot off my back."

"Just be glad he isn't holding a grudge." Kylie responded with a shrug before she started to walk off. "I'd better hit the hay as well, my boyfriend's waiting for me in my room, it was good to see you again Chelsea." Kylie added and Chelsea nodded before she walked off.

"Seems I can't hang around you guys without someone from my past showing up." Chelsea sighed as she turned to the others. "I'm half expecting my old gym teacher to compete next."

"You mean Jeff or someone from one of the four other schools you attended?" Nicola asked referring to the Ra Yellow headmaster and Chelsea shrugged. "Anyway, when you mentioned that she was your ex, I assumed she was a lesbian as well."

"Nah, Kylie's bi, she came out of the closet about a year before I did." Chelsea responded as she shook her head. "Before I came out as gay, we'd have threesomes with guys to see if I preferred male partners to female partners or just liked a bit of both, the guys never complained of course but that stopped once I realized that I was a lesbian." Chelsea added before adjusting a bra strap. "I think it's time we headed to bed as well."

"Agreed." Andreas nodded before he, Zack and Nicola stood up and started to walk off. "See you in the morning Chelsea."

"See you in the morning." Chelsea responded before they went their separate ways, as Chelsea walked down the hallway to her room, she let out a deep breath. _"Yami Marik potentially returning? Two faces from my pre-duel academy days? What other memories will this tournament bring back?"_


	9. Return to Duelist Kingdom

It was early in the morning on Duelist Kingdom island and whilst the duelists were back on the ship either sleeping or waking up super early final preparations were being made inside Maximillian Pegasus's castle.

"Final tests have been completed Sophia." One of the lead technicians said as she ran up to catch up with her boss as Sophia marched through the castle hallways. "Barring any technical malfunctions between now and when the ship arrives, we should be all set."

"Try not to jinx it." Sophia responded as she turned to the shorter woman. "The ship won't be docking for another hour or so and I've been a duelist long enough to know that anything that can go wrong with technology will go wrong with technology."

"Off course, and if anything does go wrong before the ship docks, you can rest assured that we will have it fixed long before the duelists are in the castle." The technician responded before a tall, male figure stepped out in front of the two women who they instantly recognized. "Mr. Kaiba?!"

"Sophia, we need to talk, alone." Kaiba said whilst completely ignoring the technician who quickly got the message before running off, Kaiba led Sophia into the makeshift office he had set up in the castle before turning to Sophia. "Shut the door behind you."

"_Conversation hasn't even started yet and I already don't like his tone." _Sophia thought before closing the door behind her, as soon as she did Kaiba slammed three photos onto the desk and once Sophia recognized them her frown deepened. _"Son of a bitch!"_

"You have five minutes to explain yourself before I call this whole thing off and leave on the Blue-Eyes Jet." Kaiba added as his eyes narrowed, the three photos in question were three of the photos Claudio had sent her following the World Championship qualifiers. "And trust me, unless your explanation is adequate, you will be hearing from my lawyers."

"Before I get started." Sophia stated as she let out a deep breath. "Did you get those from Claudio Caruso?" Sophia asked and Kaiba nodded. "He's been blackmailing me with those photos since the World Championship Qualifiers in New York, he said the only way those wouldn't end up in the press is if I added a duelist he was sponsoring to the tournament, a former Orichalcos Duelist, how he got those photos is something I'm not 100% clear on but if he sent them to you, that means he's getting desperate."

"Desperate men do desperate things." Kaiba nodded once he got the photos. "That still doesn't explain why you were violating the contract with Tyler."

"I was young and dumb." Sophia added as she shook her head. "I was still a pro-league duelist at the time and I didn't think much of the contract, father said that it would come into play once he retired and I took over I2 and I took that to mean that I could continue to sleep around, father didn't get around to teaching me about contract law until I had taken over I2." Sophia added before picking up the pictures. "As far as I know, those are the only pictures that exist in physical form, he sent the rest of them in an e-mail and there is a sex tape that's in my possession."

"Why do you even have a sex tape to begin with?" Kaiba asked and Sophia shook her head again.

"Right after I won the California Regional Championships, me and several other pro-league duelists got drunk, drunk enough to think that a game of "sexy truth or dare" in father's penthouse suite in California was a good idea." Sophia added before sighing. "As the night went on the dare's became more adventurous until I was dared to have a three way with another woman and guy whilst another guy filmed it, I think you can guess the rest." Sophia added before sighing. "Only reason I have it is because I leant my iPhone to the guy so he could film it, I should've deleted it the moment my hangover wore off but instead I held onto it."

"And Claudio hasn't seen it?" Kaiba asked and Sophia nodded, Kaiba was silent for a long time before nodding. "You are lucky that I trust your judgment enough to let this slide, and this Orichalcos Duelist?"

"He's in the tournament, but he will be starting from the lowest class and he'll be on thin ice from the word go." Sophia responded as she folded her arms. "I don't like it either, but that son of a bitch forced my hand, only reason I haven't reported him for blackmailing me is because I'm worried that he'll leak the photos in retaliation."

"Leave him to my lawyers, they'll drive his company into the ground by the time the tournament's over." Kaiba added as he walked towards the door before noting Sophia picking up the photos. "What do you plan to do with those?"

"Reduce them to ashes and let them scatter to the wind." Sophia responded as she retrieved a lighter from her pocket. "I can't risk them being out in the open whilst I'm in the virtual world."

"Good, I'll be waiting for you in the virtual pod room." Kaiba responded before leaving the room, Sophia walked out to the balcony and took a moment to admire the sunset before looking at the photos.

"_Almost like I'm burning away a piece of myself." _Sophia thought as she set fire to the photos. _"Much like Kaiba did at the end of the original Battle City, only not nearly as extreme." _Sophia thought as she threw the burning photos over the balcony and watched as the flame reduced them to nothing. _"I just need to focus on the tournament." _Sophia thought as she walked away from the balcony.

"_That's not all you have to focus on." _The voice responded and Sophia ignored him as she walked out the room. _"My resurrection is at hand."_

"_Not if I have anything to say about it." _Sophia thought as she walked down the hallway.

*later, on the ship*

Two hours had passed and by now most of the duelists participating in the tournament were either awake or just waking up, in the case of Chloe and Lance it was the latter.

"Morning sleepy head." Chloe greeted her boyfriend as he walked up to her, Chloe had woken up about twenty minutes before Lance and had opted to leave the room they shared as quietly as possible once she had gotten dressed, currently she was at the poolside bar where other duelists were either sunbathing, hanging about or in Chloe's case getting a drink. "I thought I was bad when it came to having a lie in back when I was still at Duel Academy."

"Chloe, no one will ever be as bad as you were back then." Lance pointed out with a yawn before the young couple shared a kiss. "It's easier to count the times where you weren't late for a class because you slept in, honestly I'm surprised your parents didn't buy you an alarm clock sooner."

"Probably because they knew I'd eventually throw it out the window." Chloe joked before the bartender returned with her drink, she handed over the money and waited for the change. "It wasn't a matter of if I through it out a window but rather when I'd throw it out a window."

"You'd at least make sure the window was open first right?" Lance asked with a nervous laugh and Chloe shook her head as the bartender returned with her change. "Hey, can I get a soda as well?"

"Coming right up." The bartender responded before he went to pour Lance's drink, whilst his back was turned Chloe turned to Lance after she pocketed her change.

"Any more incidents like the one at the mess hall?" Lance asked and Chloe shrugged her shoulders.

"Not that I know off, I spoke to Chelsea before I went to bed last night but the most exciting thing that happened to her was running into her ex-girlfriend and the pro-league duelist she punched." Chloe responded not noticing two taller women approaching them. "Same goes for the others, seems like last night was uneventful after that duel."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far." A French accented female voice rang out and Chloe glanced up seeing the two women, the French woman as a raven haired beauty with shoulder length hair and blue eyes whilst her companion was a red head with elbow length red hair and blue eyes, it didn't take Chloe or Lance long to recognize the pair, or the fact that they were holding hands. "Long time no see Chloe."

"Amanda, Adrienne, should've known you guys would sign up." Chloe greeted the pair happily as she turned to them, Adrienne Beaumont and Amanda Cotreau were two pro-league duelists who Chloe's group had met as enemies during their expulsion duels serving as opponents for Andreas and Marcus respectively. "What have you guys been up too?"

"Not a lot." Amanda shrugged as the couple took seats at the bar. "After Adrienne lost the French National Championships last year, she finally got around to moving up to Canada to live with me, I'm still the Canadian National Champion though."

"Or she will be until I sign up for the Canadian Nationals." Adrienne chuckled earning a playful slap on the arm from Amanda. "After I lost the title, there was nothing left for me in the French scene, didn't help that my Naturias couldn't keep up with the new decks that were cropping up but to be honest, it was a long time coming." Adrienne added before frowning. "Much as I love France, there's too many bad memories associated with that country and my ex-boyfriend for me to even consider going back, not even on Holliday."

"Ahh, yeah, that did sound nasty from what I heard." Lance winced as he remembered the headlines. "I thought you guys were in an open relationship with your boyfriends anyway?"

"Yes and no, we dated Casey and Jacques but me and Adrienne were friends with benefits and yes they knew." Amanda explained before frowning. "And then we came home from a tournament to find them in bed with other women, if you've seen the headlines you knew what happened next."

"Frankly I'm surprised you didn't kick them in the balls after they posted that video and those photos online." Chloe responded as she shook her head. "But it did bring you closer together at least."

"True enough, I was going to come out as bi at some point, but incident forced the matter." Amanda added before shaking her head. "I would say enough dwelling on the past, but Marcus and Andreas still owe us rematches."

"From the expulsion duels? Man, you really can hold a grudge." Lance responded and Adrienne chuckled.

"Compared to some people on the pro-leagues and Seto Kaiba in his prime, our grudges are nothing that special." Adrienne added before frowning. "Or do I need to remind you about Erick?"

"Honestly? I'd rather just forget the whole Orichalcos saga." Chloe responded with a frown on her face. "But we will pass on the message to Andreas and Marcus."

"Good to know." Amanda nodded in approval before their stomachs rumbled. "I knew skipping breakfast was a bad idea."

"Was my breakfast in bed not good enough for you?" Adrienne protested jokingly and Chloe sweat-dropped once she got the idea. "Though now that you mention it, that would be a good opportunity to catch up over breakfast, don't you think?"

"We do have an hour to go before the ship docks, so it'll be a quick breakfast." Lance responded as he checked his watch. "But yeah, that sounds good." Lance added before he and Chloe followed Adrienne and Amanda. _"I wonder if the other guys we faced in the expulsion duels are on the ship? Not counting Erick for obvious reasons."_

*elsewhere on the ship*

Chelsea had woken up twenty minutes before Chloe and Lance and unlike them she had gone straight down to the mess hall for breakfast, once she had finished her breakfast Chelsea leaned back in her chair.

"_At least I won't have to worry about having to eat crappy food outside of the tournament." _Chelsea thought as she glanced at the empty plate in front of her, there weren't that many people around in the cafeteria aside from her which she had chalked up to how early she had woken up. _"Still once we end up on the island, I'll be all business, I do have a title to unofficially defend and then there's the crazy stuff involving Yami Marik's spirit." _Chelsea thought before taking a sip from the soft drink she was having with her breakfast. _"Not to mention my ex-girlfriend and the pro-duelist who wound up being the unintentional catalyst for my crappy late teens showing up, then again I have wanted a rematch with Ray ever since I hit the pro-leagues so it's not all bad."_

"Morning Chelsea." Theresa's voice rang out and the Chicago native looked up seeing Theresa approaching her table. "This seat taken?"

"Go ahead, I was about to head back to my room anyway." Chelsea shrugged her shoulders as she motioned to the empty plate, when Theresa didn't sit down Chelsea. "Or was this an excuse to catch up?"

"Pretty much, by the time I had caught up with the others you had already retired for the night, besides I've already had breakfast." Theresa nodded and Chelsea grinned before standing up. "It seems you've done well for yourself, Illinois Regional Champion and all that."

"Yeah but I'd be lying if I said that I was a hundred percent happy with my reign, because the regionals are so low on the pro-league totem pole the best PR company my agent could hire was one who thought "The Shock Rock Chick" is a good nickname for me." Chelsea responded with an annoyed huff as she folded her arms. "Just because I'm a metalhead who runs a Watt Deck, almost makes me wish I had a fifth sibling who ran a PR firm."

"Trust me, me and Brandon have been there, done that and brought the t-shirts, the first few years of a Pro-Duelist career are never easy, or as glamorous as the Nationals make them out to be." Theresa nodded in agreement before the two women walked out of the mess hall and into the hallways. "Chloe said last night that her agent wanted to give her a couple of bad nicknames when she first hired him."

"I'm guessing her agent asked her opinion first?" Chelsea asked and Theresa nodded. "My agent didn't even have the courtesy to tell me that he had hired a PR firm until flyers had been spread across Chicago and Woodstock with my face on them and that infamous nickname attached, why I didn't fire him on the spot I have no idea but as soon as I hit the Nationals I'm kicking them both to the curb." Chelsea added before grinning. "But it's not all bad, I'm still a hero to my niece for example."

"Oh yeah, I remember you saying on last boat trip from Duel Academy." Theresa nodded in recognition and Chelsea grinned broadly. "How is your niece? Jasmine was it?"

"Yep, and she's growing a lot faster than I thought she would, that or these past five years have just flown by." Chelsea responded before getting her phone out and showing Theresa a picture of her and Jasmine with Chelsea holding a trophy in her hands. "Had that picture taken after I retained the title on her third birthday, before you ask about her hair, her mom's a natural redhead."

"I guess someone in your family had to have a natural hair color other than black." Theresa responded with a grin and Chelsea nodded. "Does she know about you and Beth? Or your temper from back in the day?"

"It got a bit hard to hide it after Jasmine caught me and Beth kissing at a house party." Chelsea responded sheepishly before frowning. "As for my temper, my brother hasn't gone into specifics, but he's used my juvenile conviction as an example of right and wrong, I don't mind because it's a good example and I'm about as far from proud of it as you can get but it's still a touchy subject."

"I can understand why but at least he's being up front about it, I heard from Nicola that you had run into your ex-girlfriend and the pro duelist you punched." Theresa commented and Chelsea sighed. "Can't imagine how awkward that was."

"It was less awkward running into Kylie, I knew she was a pro-league duelist but since she was representing her home state of Wyoming as their champion, we haven't run into each other until now, we were happy to see each other at least." Chelsea added before sighing. "As for Ray, it was more awkward for me than it was for him." Chelsea added as she sighed. "He was nice enough but there's more than my fair share of bad memories associated with that duel, which I plan to avenge during the tournament."

"I hope you do." Theresa responded before Chelsea could respond the announcement that the ship was docking rang out over the PA System. "I think we'd better head up."

"Engaged women first." Chelsea nodded in agreement before she followed Theresa.

*later in the castle*

By now each competing duelist was in the castle with the seven duelists that Sophia had scouted out taking front and center at the front of the large group, they were in a large darkened room on the lower floors of the castle standing in front of a large TV monitor.

"Welcome duelists, you will be shown to your pods momentarily." The lead technician greeted them as the TV came to life. "But first, Sophia wanted to hold a demonstration for you, take it away Sophia." He added as the screen showed a vast field, soon Sophia stepped into view wearing a long brown dress and carrying a staff, she also had a more elven appearance with pointy ears.

"Greetings duelists, I think it's safe to assume that I need no introduction." Sophia greeted them as she held up her duel disk. "In this Virtual World, you will be assigned classes based on your deck and playing style, as you can see I am a druid but the other classes are as follows: Barbarian, Bard, Fighter, Monk, Sorcerer, Wizard, Alchemist, Cleric, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue and Warlock, on top of these options, you will have the option to change your appearance and race to one of the classic Dungeons and Dragons races."

"_Why am I getting the feeling that Sophia is basing this on a D&D campaign she ran at I2?" _Chloe thought with a frown as a large silver wolf appeared on the screen. _"And where did Silver Fang come from?"_

"Allow me to introduce you to the Deck Master System." Sophia added as she motioned to the wolf next to her. "This is based on an old and obscure rule that was used only once, as you can see, Silver Fang is my Deck Master and whilst in the real world he is a relic of a simpler time in the game, as my Deck Master he gains access to new abilities."

"Enough talk." Kaiba's voice rang out and the camera panned to the left to see the legendary duelist standing across from her in plate armor colored to match the colors of his signature dragon. "You know what they say Sophia, actions speak louder than words." Kaiba added as Lord of Dragons appeared next to him and once the implications set in every duelist's jaws practically dropped to the floor.

"I was hoping to keep this a secret." Sophia chuckled as she shook her head. "But yes, I was able to convince several duelists to come out of retirement for this tournament, Seto Kaiba included, as for the rest." Sophia added before they activated their duelists. "You'll have to discover them on my own." Sophia added before they drew their opening hands. "Silver Fang will serve as my deck master for the duration of this duel."

"And Lord of Dragons shall serve as mine." Kaiba added before he looked over his hand. "I summon my deck master to the field." Kaiba announced as Lord of Dragons stepped forward. "I can do that in exchange for my normal summon this turn, now I activate the Flute of Summoning Dragon! I use this Spell Card to Special Summon two Blue-Eyes White Dragons to the field!" Kaiba announced and the crowd gasped in shock as the two dragons appeared on the field with a mighty roar (8/3000/2500). "But why stop there? I activate my Deck Master's ability! Paying 500 life-points to Special Summon my third Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my deck!" Kaiba added as his life-points dropped to 7500 and the third Blue-Eyes appeared on the field. "I can knock you and your beasts out on my next move Sophia." Kaiba added as he motioned for her to make her move. "You would be wise to surrender."

"What's a girl to do in this situation?" Sophia commented as she drew her first card. "I activate my Deck Master Ability, by revealing on Beast Type Monster in my hand I can Special Summon one Beast Type Synchro Monster of the same level from my extra deck, the monster will be destroyed during the end phase and I can't make any other summons this tern but that's all I need." Sophia added as she revealed Egotistical Ape (5/1200/1200) and Thunder Unicorn appeared on the field (5/2200/1800). "Thunder Unicorn, attack Lord of Dragons!" Sophia commanded and the unicorn charged towards the Spell Caster before impaling him on his horn, however to the shock of the duelists the three dragons disappeared, and they deactivated their duel disks.

"When a deck master dies, it's controller automatically loses the duel." Kaiba explained before smirking. "But don't think for a second that I will go down that easily during the tournament, nor will Sophia or the other duelists coming out of retirement."

"Just remember, you might run into Duel Monsters that serve as their own deck masters." Sophia added as she motioned behind them where Witty Phantom was locked in an intense duel with Swordstalker. "Now for how this tournament will work, scattered throughout the virtual realm there are Destiny Orbs waiting to be found, they can be awarded for completing quests or beating a boss and find twenty of them and you advance to the finals, but they can be wagered in a duel as well." Sophia added before she motioned to a massive black castle off in the distance. "And because I want to keep some traditions alive in this tournament, the finals will be held at the castle of the dark kind, but be warned, just because you gather all the orbs doesn't mean you'll have guaranteed passage to the finals."

"Just to make things clear, Sophia and I organized this tournament be do not know where these orbs are, we made it clear to the technicians that we wanted the playing field as even as possible." Kaiba added and Sophia nodded in confirmation. "Furthermore, we are already in the virtual world, but it won't start until everyone is in the virtual pods."

"To the competing duelists, I wish you all good luck, your going to need it." Sophia added as she put her hands on her hips. "Some areas will be easier than others whilst others can and will give the Dark Souls series a run for its money in terms of difficulty but I'm sure that you are up for the challenge."

"There's only one thing left to say, cry havoc and let lose the dogs of war because the Virtual Kingdom Tournament has officially begun." Kaiba added before the TV screen switched off and the duelists were led to their pods.


	10. A Whole New World

Once the duelists stepped into their respective pods they lay still for a few moments before they found themselves going through a blue tunnel, in Chloe's case she found herself confused before a computerized voice rang out.

"Name: Chloe Richardson, DOB: 2nd of October 2019, Nationality: American, Height: 5ft 2, Weight: 120ibs, Dueling Style: Swords and Sorcery." The voice read out her stats as a bright flash enveloped the area. "Class: Sorceress, please state desired race from the following: Human, Elf, Half Orc, Goliath, Halfling, Gnome, Tiefling, Assamir, and state any changes you want made to your appearance."

"_And from my brief time playing Dungeons and Dragons, I know I'm not cut out for a Half Orc or Goliath." _Chloe thought as a sweat-drop rolled down her head. _"I guess I'll try to stick to my real appearance as much as possible, doesn't mean I can't have some fun with this though." _Chloe thought before grinning. "Tiefling and keep my appearance as close to my real appearance as possible."

"Request accepted, please chose background: Acolyte, Noble, Guild Artisan, Entertainer." The voice rang out again and Chloe paused.

"_Acolyte seems perfect for this class, but I want to have some fun with this, not every day that I get to be a noblewoman." _Chloe thought before grinning. "Noble."

"Generating world." The voice responded before Chloe had to shield her eyes as the flash enveloped her.

*moments later*

Once the flash faded Chloe found herself in front of a large, fancy mirror as servants doted over her with make-up brushes, those that weren't combing her hair that is, once Chloe came to her senses she grinned when she saw that her skin had turned purple, she had horns protruding from her forehead and she could see a tail poking out just above her rear end, however much to her annoyance Chloe saw that she was wearing a regal blue dress that went down to her feet.

"_Great, a dress, there are no words to describe how much I hate wearing dresses." _Chloe thought with an annoyed sigh before shaking her head. _"Okay, just got to play along until I can get out of here, I guess." _Chloe thought before letting out a yelp of pain as one of the servants accidentally stepped on her tail. _"And now I know how Rex and Nala feel whenever I accidentally step on their tails."_

"I'm sorry ma'am, please forgive me!" The servant pleaded as Chloe turned to him, now that she had turned around, she saw that she was in a bedroom of sorts and the Halfling cowered from her and Chloe frowned. "It's my first day!"

"Don't worry about it, you're like the fifth person who's stepped on it this week." Chloe responded and the Halfling sighed in relief. "Why are you doting over me so heavily anyway?"

"Don't tell me you forgot about your arranged marriage already." One of the other servants stated and Chloe frowned as it dawned on her. "Your father will be most displeased with you."

"_Well, he can't get any worse than my biological father, that would take commitment to being a shitty parent." _Chloe thought before shaking her head. "No, no, just a lot on my mind this past week, who am I marrying again?"

"Lord Ravencraw, of the Prestigious Ravencraw family." The Halfling servant responded, and Chloe remained silent as they finished doting on her and left the room, once the door was closed Chloe sighed before leaning on the desk with her cheek in her hand.

"_Well, I did want to spice things up for this game." _Chloe thought as she stared at herself in the mirror. _"Didn't think I2 would include Arranged Marriages though, I would say that the only guy I want to marry is Lance but knowing my luck? He's the guy playing Lord Ravencraw." _Chloe thought before the door opened and two armored figured stepped in though their armor and helmets made it hard to determine their genders. "Is it time already?"

"Yes, please follow us." The figure closest to her responded with a female accent and Chloe nodded before standing up….and nearly tripping over the long dress she was wearing.

"_I knew there was a reason why I hate wearing dresses." _Chloe thought as she used the chair, she had been sitting in to regain her balance. _"Well, besides the fact that I'm a total tomboy." _Chloe thought before following the two armored figures out of the bedroom, however as they walked down the hallway Chloe realized that they were moving away from the sounds of her characters' dad's voice. "Err, isn't father that way?"

"Play along." The other armored figure whispered to her, this time with a male voice and Chloe nodded. "Ravencraw has a history of murdering his wives, we are getting you to safety."

"_Well, that confirms that he is definitely not Lance." _Chloe thought before following the two knights out of the house, after an hour of walking they reached the outskirts of the estate and stopped. "Can you tell me what's going on here? I know I have magical powers, but I can't be of that much use to you guys, can I?"

"You'd be surprised." The female knight responded, and Chloe frowned, however she lightened up when the knight removed her helmet revealing a red haired woman with shoulder length hair and green eyes. "You didn't do your homework, did you Chloe?"

"Francesca?" Chloe asked once she recognized the Irish duelist, she had met during her first Battle City Tournament. "And no, I when I came into the world I was being doted over by servants, one of which stepped on my tail." Chloe explained before turning to the male duelist. "Let me guess, Phillip?"

"No such luck." The male duelist responded before removing his helmet revealing a handsome Spanish man with shoulder length black hair in a ponytail and brown eyes. "Me and Fran found each other in that estate, our guide said to get a princess to safety, but we didn't realize it was you."

"What can I say? I wanted to play something completely different from the real me." Chloe responded with a grin. "Either way, it's good to see you Ricardo." Chloe greeted the Spanish duelist who had served as Chelsea's opponent during her first (and only) expulsion duel before frowning. "And what guide?"

"It's in your pocket." Francesca responded and Chloe reached into her pocket and produced the guide, however before she could read it an alarm sounded from the estate. "We'd better get out of here, your father's forces looked formidable and I don't think we can take them at level one."

"_Wanted to play something different from the real me, yet I'm still escaping my father, there's a cruel joke in that, I just know it." _Chloe thought before turning to the two pro-leaguers. "Lead the way, just please tell me you have a change of clothing at our destination, preferably something a lot less girly." Chloe added as she looked down at her dress and they nodded.

"Don't have anything back at camp but there's a village nearby it, shouldn't be that hard to get you some better clothes." Francesca assured her before they ran off with her.

*elsewhere in the world*

In a city that was about an hour's walk away from the estate Chloe had started in Lance had come into the world, and too his amusement he had been assigned the Bard class even though it was well known that he was a terrible singer but that didn't stop him from trying.

"Okay, okay!" Lance called out as he ducked under the rotten tomatoes being thrown by tavern members and made a rush for the door, Lance had opted to go with the Entertainer background and the Elf class giving him pointy ears and he was wearing a red stereotypical bard outfit to match his deck. _"Didn't even make it through one verse before I get booed off the stage, that's gotta be a record!" _Lance thought as he shut the tavern door behind him and took several deep breaths. _"And here I was hoping the Bard class would improve my singing!"_

"Tough crowd comrade?" A thick Russian accent rang out and Lance looked up, he quickly recognized the voice as Dmitri Romanov, the Russian National Champion who Tyler had faced in his expulsion duel back at Duel Academy, but he had clearly taken the Goliath race which was fitting as he was a mountain of a man in real life. "The guide said that I'd find a Bard nearby, didn't think he was going to be that terrible." Dmitri added and Lance rolled his eyes.

"Yeah well, the in game characters have no tastes, that's all I'm saying!" Lance grumbled before checking his outfit for stains from the tomatoes, upon finding none he checked the guide. "My guide says to look for an NPC with a quest in a Tavern alongside a beautiful maiden, I hope it wasn't the tavern I was just in!"

"I don't think they'd make it that easy." Dmitri responded as he shook his head. "I think I have an idea of where to start, my guide said the same thing, but I decided to look for the bard first."

"Lead the way, that said, I'll laugh if the beautiful maiden is Chloe." Lance responded with a grin and Dmitri let out a hearty chuckle before he led Lance back to the tavern that Dmitri had started at, Lance was disappointed when he saw that the maiden wasn't Chloe, but it was someone he recognized.

"A Goliath Alchemist and a Bard, I suppose you too fit the bill." Adrienne greeted the pair once she recognized them, it was easy to see that Adrienne had been assigned the Druid class but unlike the boys she had decided to stick to a human, though her revealing outfit made up for it. "You guys looking for the NPC as well?"

"Well, I was booed out of the tavern I initially started at so that's as good a place as any to start." Lance responded and Adrienne chuckled.

"Given what I remember of your "singing talents" that is, by far, the least surprising thing about this tournament to date." Adrienne responded with a grin and Lance rolled his eyes before he noticed someone beckoning them over. "You think that's the NPC?"

"Doesn't look like anyone I know." Lance responded as he shook his head before the trio walked over to the table.

*elsewhere in the world*

A few miles away from the city that Lance had started in was a small forest which was where Andreas had come into the world, his assigned class was ranger but unlike Chloe he was taking a moment to read the guide that he had come with.

"_In a mystical spring, you will find the key to your destiny." _Andreas thought as he read the guide mentally whilst walking through the forest, like Adrienne he had opted to remain a human and had a large bow strapped to his back with a quiver of arrows attached to his belt. _"If that isn't a destiny orb, I'll be surprised, then again I doubt Sophia will make things that easy on me." _Andreas thought before pocketing the guide and getting the bow out. _"Never used one of these things in real life but better later than never I suppose." _Andreas thought before he head a twig snap behind him and spun around.

"Well, so much for stealth." Jade commented as she stepped forward and Andreas eased up, he quickly realized that the Australian woman had gone with the elf race though her clothing did little to give away her class. "Andreas, right? My guide said to search for a mystical spring."

"Same." Andreas nodded before putting the bow away. "I'm surprised you didn't get any help from your employer in that regard."

"And have an unfair advantage over my competition? Just because I work for Sophia doesn't mean I get any special treatment and Raven will tell you the same thing if we run into her." Jade responded as she shook her head and Andreas nodded to indicate that he understood. "So, you got Ranger I'm guessing?"

"I suppose I did." Andreas nodded as he glanced at the bow. "I was expecting to get Druid since that was what Sophia got but I'm not in a position to complain, what about you?"

"Rogue, guess it fits since I was a hacker before Sophia recruited me." Jade responded before the pair heard a woman scream. "You heard, that right?"

"Sounds like it was coming from that clearing to the west, let's go." Andreas responded after thinking for a moment and the pair rushed off to the clearing, once they got there, they found three bandits leering over a young Elven woman whose clothes were in tatters.

"Don't worry baby, we'll be gentle!" The leader of the bandits, who was about three times as big as the woman in both height and weight, laughed as the terrified woman tried to back away from them and Andreas and Jade shared a look. "Jake, pin her down already! Don't worry, you'll get your chance at that sweet ass of hers."

"You got it boss!" Jake responded with a grin before he rushed over to the woman, without even thinking about it, Andreas fired an arrow into Jake's throat causing him to collapse and the other two bandits too look up.

"I'm only going to say this once." Andreas commented as he glared at the much larger man before loading up another arrow. "Leave now, or you'll get worse than your friend." Andreas added as the dead bandit disappeared. _"I guess that's how the world is dealing with dead NPCs."_

"You really think I'm going to listen to you?" The lead bandit sneered as Jade went to help the elven woman. "Why don't you and your little whore leave before we kill…." The bandit never finished his sentence as he was hit from behind by a blast of energy, after several seconds of screaming he collapsed before his body disappeared and Andreas looked up.

"I got the Warlock class." Raven commented as she stepped into the clearing wearing a long robe with a hood covering her face. "He just got a taste of Eldritch Blast."

"Didn't realize that they were importing spells from D&D over as well." Andreas responded as the sole remaining bandit ran off. "Did your guide mention anything about a mystical spring by any chance?"

"How did you guess?" Raven asked with a chuckle as the Elven woman pulled herself back to her feet. "Are you hurt?"

"I would've been a lot worse off if you hadn't come along." The woman responded as she dusted herself off and turned to her saviors. "My name is Annastriana, the Druidic Tribe I belong too protects the spring you are looking for, as thanks for my rescue, I will take you there."

"_How convenient." _Andreas thought before the trio followed Annastriana out of the clearing.

*elsewhere in the world*

Nicola wasn't the least bit surprised when she found out that her assigned class was Druid, what did surprise her was where she had ended up in the world.

"_I go with Outlander for my background and I was expecting to end up in a forest or tribe." _Nicola thought as she glanced around the open field that she had ended up in, the field was two hours away from Andreas's location and since Nicola had opted for the Halfling class she was quite a bit shorter than she was used too, even so she dug out her guide and sat down on the grass to make herself comfortable. _"I guess I wasn't that far off, but I can't help but wonder how Andreas is doing." _Nicola thought before reading through the book. _"Your destiny lies in the life of a rare creature; does it mean Duel Monster or animal? And what does it mean by that exactly?"_

"Stop thief!" Nicola's train off thought was broken when she heard a woman call out after the thief who was running away with her coin purse, Nicola quickly pocketed the guide and looked up seeing the thief running in her direction.

"_Guess I was being naïve when I thought that this world would be free of crime." _Nicola thought with a sigh before she ran through the spells she had been given in her head. _"Most of the spells require me to be around trees but Minor Illusion could trip him up." _Nicola thought before raising her hand and conjuring up a large tree from out of nowhere right in the thief's path, the thief tripped over himself in shock and fell right on his rear end and Nicola grinned. _"Nature one, thief zero." _Nicola thought before taking the coin purse from the thief who quickly ran off not realizing that the purse had been taken off him. _"Now where was that woman again?"_

"Oh, thank you!" The woman, another Halfling, thanked Nicola as she ran up to her, once she was close enough Nicola gave her the purse back to her. "Come, let me repay you at my camp."

"I don't know." Nicola responded with an uneasy look on her face. "I'm trying to find other adventurers if I can be honest."

"There are other adventurers at my camp, two boys." The woman responded and after some hesitation Nicola dusted herself off and walked after the Halfling Woman, after twenty minutes of walking they reached the camp and Nicola eased up a bit after she recognized the others in the camp.

"Ahh, another guest." Phillip Masters, the current Irish national champion who the gang had met during Battle City, greeted her as she entered the camp, he had clearly gone for a Tiefling as his race as his skin was red and he had horns and a tail like Chloe. "Ciri, at this rate your camp will be filled with adventurers."

"I hope not, there's only so many mouths I can feed." Ciri responded before Nicola sat down at the campfire next to the Australian National Champion Mark Stevens. "Don't worry, dinner will be ready soon." Ciri assured them before she went back into her tent.

"You guys wouldn't happen to be looking for a rare creature as well, would you?" Nicola asked once she made herself comfortable and the bots nodded in response. "I will say this; I wasn't expecting to end up in a field after I came into the world."

"I think the starting locations are randomly generated, otherwise, I'm sure you would've ended up with Andreas instead." Mark responded and Nicola grinned before nodding. "You have any leads? Because we're stumped."

"I was still reading through my guide when I ran into her." Nicola responded as she shook her head. "So, what classes did you end up with?"

"I got assigned the Paladin class, Mark got the Monk class." Phil responded as he leaned back, and Mark nodded to confirm it. "As for the creature, I say we ask Ciri if she has any ideas and take it from there."

"Either way, we'll end up with a destiny orb by the end of the day with any luck." Mark nodded in agreement and Nicola grinned. "Not sure what we'll do after that, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Hopefully it won't be that hard." Nicola added before Ciri came out with some delicious smelling food. "But I guess that can wait." Nicola added as Ciri put down the plates in front of the three duelists.

*elsewhere in the world*

Theresa had come into the world in a city about twenty miles away from Chloe's starting location, and it didn't take her long to find her companions either.

"_Not sure why I was expecting a class other than fighter." _Theresa thought as she leaned against the wall of the alleyway, she was in she had opted for the Assamir race and criminal background giving her a pair of angelic wings protruding from her back. _"Wonder who else is around?"_

"I'm sure we'll find someone who'll help us on our quest." Marie's voice rang out and Theresa glanced up seeing Marie and Tyler approaching her, Marie had opted for the Gnome class meaning the already short woman was tiny and looked like a small child compared to Theresa and Tyler who had decided to stick with the human race. "As for how we'll go about it, we'll have to figure that out ourselves." Marie added and Theresa cleared her throat.

"You called?" Theresa asked and the other two duelists glanced up before grinning when they saw her. "So, it's safe to assume that you guys are after a destiny orb?"

"Yep, and there in lies the problem." Tyler responded as he glanced at Theresa. "Our guide said that it's in the possession of a powerful mob boss, however after we checked it out, we realized that we'd have to steal it rather than try to buy it after casing the joint."

"Yeah, remind me to leave this part out when I talk to mom about this tournament." Theresa commented as she shook her head with a chuckle. "Don't think a cop will take her daughter bragging about committing crimes well, regardless of context."

"To be fair, as long as you make it clear that it was in a virtual world, she'll probably just shrug it off." Tyler responded and Theresa sighed.

"I still have nightmares about the chewing out I got for being talked into that joyride that ended Drew's time at Duel Academy so no, not really." Theresa responded as she shook her head before sighing. "Let's start planning then."

"Not out in the open, come on, there's a tavern nearby where we can talk in private." Marie responded and Theresa nodded before following them out of the alley.

*elsewhere in the world*

Brandon had come into the world in a city that was about an hour away from Theresa's starting location though it was a smaller city than the ones that Lance and Theresa had started in, still he wasn't above to let that stop him.

"_Deep beneath the city, you will find your destiny?" _Brandon thought as he read his guide, his assigned class was Cleric and he had opted to go with the Noble Tiefling combo much like Chloe had. _"How deep are we talking? Maybe I can get some clues by asking around?" _Brandon wondered before pocketing the guide and looking around, he was in the city center and he spotted a group of Dwarfs arguing nearby though he was too far away to make anything out. _"I'm sure they won't mind me listening in." _Brandon thought before sitting on a nearby bench.

"I'm telling you Chronos, it's too risky!" The dwarf at the front of the group argued and Brandon raised an eyebrow. "Yes, we could dig down further, but we'll risk going into the Underdark!"

"I don't care Mordak, either we get that gold or the city's going bankrupt!" Chronos responded as he shook his head and Brandon stood up. "If we could find some adventurers dumb enough to join us down there, we won't have a problem!"

"You called?" Brandon glanced up and realized that two people had the same idea as he had, not only that but he recognized both as Marcus and Miranda, both of whom had gone for the human class. "I think we fit the bill, don't we boys?" Miranda asked and Brandon and Marcus nodded in agreement.

"Heh, it's your funeral lady! Follow us!" Mordak responded before the dwarfs motioned for the trio to follow them.

*elsewhere in the world*

Much to Chelsea's annoyance, she had been assigned the Barbarian class, but she had decided to just run with it and went with the Assamir Race, when she came into the world, she found herself in a deep forest near a lake which she used to look at her reflection.

"_If my family knew that I went with a Dungeons and Dragons race that's basically an angel, I'd never hear the end of it." _Chelsea thought with a chuckle as she admired her reflection, her appearance hadn't changed much though her nose and naval piercings had been taken out due to the different time era, but she still had her tattoos and dyed hair, however the biggest change was the pair of angelic wings protruding from her upper back, her outfit comprised of a mid-riff bearing black top and matching pants but before Chelsea could process anything else she heard screams coming from the nearby area and her head snapped up. _"Never a dull moment." _Chelsea thought before she ran towards the source of the screams.

When she reached the source of the screams, she found herself in a Barbarian village that was being raided by other barbarians, Chelsea initially reached for her sword but quickly realized that she was outnumbered. "Where is she? Where is the winged girl?!" The leader called out and Chelsea's blood ran cold.

"_Winged girl? I don't see any other Assamirs in the area so he's gotta be talking about me." _Chelsea thought before a closer look at the barbarian leader revealed him to be a Duel Monster, namely Battleguard King (8/3000/1100) and she noticed a duel disk on his arm. _"They did say that dueling a Duel Monster was an option, and I don't see any other way to stop this slaughter." _Chelsea thought before stepping forward. "Hey! Are you looking for me!?" Chelsea called out and the Battleguard King turned to her before grinning.

"You'll fetch a fine price on the slave market!" The king sneered before activating his duel disk. "But I will give you a sporting chance."

"Fine but call off your men first." Chelsea responded and the king nodded before telling his men to stop, once they had stopped Chelsea activated her duel disk. _"If this guy's a man of his word then I'm the Queen of France! Still I can buy the good Barbarians enough time to fight back." _Chelsea thought before a list of cards appeared in front of her._ "Oh right, the deck master system, didn't really get a chance to look at it, did I?" _Chelsea thought before going through the cards. _"You know what? This guys served me well since I started playing with this deck, why stop now?" _Chelsea thought before picking the card and Wattcobra (4/1000/500) appeared next to her. "Wattcobra will be my deck master."

"I will serve as my own deck master." Battleguard King responded before they drew their opening hands. "I'll go first!"

"_Guess it's too much to expect that a barbarian believes in "ladies first"." _Chelsea thought with a frown as Battleguard King went over his hand. _"I can't remember what his card version does for the life of me though!"_

"I set two cards facedown." Battleguard King announced as the two facedown cards appeared on the field. "And I activate Reinforcement of the Army!"

"_Warriors, I figured as much." _Chelsea thought with a frown as Battleguard King started searching through his deck. _"If it's just a generic warrior beatdown deck, then it shouldn't be too hard for me to handle, I've definitely dealt with nastier decks since I was crowned the Illinois Regional Champion." _Chelsea thought as Battleguard King added the card to his hand and his deck auto-shuffled. _"It's still surreal to me that I'm dueling a Duel Monster! Haven't done that since I got Wattchimera as my Duel Spirit Guide!"_

"_And I'll be here to guide you along the way in this duel." _Wattchimera's voice rang out in her head and Chelsea grinned.

"_I was wondering if communicating with Duel Spirits was going to be possible in the Virtual World." _Chelsea responded before frowning as she turned to Battleguard King. "Get anything good?"

"See for yourself!" Battleguard King responded before playing the card. "I summon Marauding Captain!" Battleguard King announced as he played the card and the brunette captain appeared on the field ready for battle (3/1200/400). "This activates his effect…..."

"Allowing you to Special Summon one Level Four or lower monster from your hand." Chelsea interrupted him and Battleguard King glared at her. "It's hardly the first time I've seen that card, or Reinforcement of the Army for that matter."

"Just for that, I won't sell you as a slave, I'll let the boys keep you around as a toy instead!" Battleguard King responded as he picked up a card and Chelsea frowned once the implications set in. "I Special Summon Barbarian Trainee through his effect!"

"_Well, if I wasn't gay already, that comment would've turned me gay." _Chelsea thought as a young man in Barbarian clothing appeared on the field (1/0/0). _"Never been raped by a Duel Monster before and I'm in no hurry to experience it, also that is not something I ever thought I'd say or think in my life!"_

"I activate my Deck Master Ability!" Battleguard King announced breaking Chelsea's train of thought. "By reducing my level by any amount above zero but below eight, I can increase another monster's level, so I increase Barbarian Trainee's level by four!" Battleguard King added as the trainee's level increased to five. "And guess what? He's a tuner monster! So, I'm tuning my monsters together!" Battleguard King added as the two monsters leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon.

"_Let's see if I can guess what he's going to summon." _Chelsea thought as the bright flash enveloped the field and Colossal Fighter appeared on the field (8/2300/1000). _"I fucking called it! That card's been out since Chloe was an Osiris Red Student, you'd think I2 would release another Warrior Synchro Monster that wasn't tied to an archetype by now!"_

"My Colossal Fighter here gains one hundred attack points for each warrior in our graveyards." Battleguard King added as Colossal Fighter's attack points went up to 3000. "Your puny snake stands no chance! I end my turn!"

"_If I had a dollar for each time my Watt Monsters were underestimated." _Chelsea thought as she drew her card and looked at it. _"Wattchimera, you wouldn't happen to know Wattcobra's Deck Master ability, would you?"_

"_I know as much as you do, this Deck Master system is foreign to me and the other Duel Spirits." _Wattchimera responded and Chelsea frowned.

"_Guess I'll have to find out for myself." _Chelsea thought before going over her hand and picking up three cards. "I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode!" Chelsea announced as the three set cards appeared on the field. "And end my turn."

"You made me wait for THAT?!" Battleguard King sneered as he drew his card. "Big mistake! I activate Big Bang Shot and equip it to my Colossal Fighter! This gives him four hundred extra attack points and the ability to inflict piercing damage!"

"_First the Regional Finals and now this." _Chelsea thought with a sigh as she rolled her eyes Colossal Fighter's attack points went up to 3400. _"Seems I can't escape monsters with piercing damage, may as well get my combo ready." _Chelsea thought as one of her facedown cards flipped up. "I chain Beckoning Light! Now I discard the remaining three cards in my hand and add that many Light Type Monsters from my deck to it!" Chelsea explained before discarding the three cards and adding three monsters to her hand.

"Like that'll help you!" Battleguard King sneered as Chelsea's deck shuffled. "Colossal Fighter, attack her defense monster!" Battleguard King commanded and the fighter charged into battle before punching Wattdragonfly (2/900/200) clean out of the tribal area destroying the monster and bringing Chelsea's life-points down to 4800.

"_I guess it makes sense that the battle animations would be improved in the virtual world." _Chelsea thought as she stated inputting commands into her duel disk. "Wattdragonfly may be gone but his effect activates! Allowing me to Special Summon one Light Type Monster from my deck, I chose Wattcentaur!" Chelsea added as she played the card and the multicolored centaur appeared on the field (6/2400/1000). "He's not as strong as your fighter but he doesn't need to be, not when summoning him let's me activate my other trap card!"

"Other trap card?" Battleguard King asked before his eyes widened once he saw Judgment of Thunder's hologram. "NO!" Battleguard King cried out as lightning struck Big Bang Shot's hologram destroying it and sending Colossal Fighter into a portal. "You'll pay for that!"

"Uh huh, and do you have any decent monsters aside from Colossal Fighter?" Chelsea asked with a deadpan expression on her face and Battleguard King paused. "I mean, you didn't play any monsters this turn but that doesn't mean…"

"Colossal Fighter is all I need." Battleguard King responded with a sneer and Chelsea shook her head. "Make your move already!"

"_Rookie mistake numero uno: relying on the power of one monster to see you through a match." _Chelsea thought as she drew her card. _"I'd like to say that pro-leaguers grow out of that habit once they gain more experience but Seto Kaiba's entire dueling career is living proof that that couldn't be further from the truth, remind me not to say that to his face should we run into each other." _Chelsea thought before quickly going over her hand. "Wattcentaur, attack his life-points directly!" Chelsea commanded and the centaur charged into battle…

"Did you really think that would be that easy?" Battleguard King asked as his facedown card flipped up. "Return from the Dark Dimension Colossal Fighter!" Battleguard King announced as the massive fighter returned to the field. "Anything you'd like to say?"

"Well, I will complement you on having backup in case I destroyed Big Bang Shot." Chelsea responded before grinning. "Oh yeah, I activate Wattcentaur's effect, by cutting his attack points in half, he can bypass your monster and attack you directly!" Chelsea added as Wattcentaur's attack points got cut in half and he charged right past Colossal Fighter and slashed Battleguard King across his chest bringing his life-points down to 6800. _"Not nearly as much as I was hoping but…..." _Chelsea trailed off as Wattcobra leapt onto her shoulder and whispered in her ear. "Huh, so that's your deck master ability?"

"What now?" Battleguard King asked impatiently as he tapped his foot and Chelsea grinned as Wattcobra got off her shoulder.

"Oh, just my deck master anility, when a Watt monster inflicts battle damage that monsters attack points come out of your life-points." Chelsea added and Battleguard King winced as his life-points dropped to 4400. "So much for that lead you had!"

"I'll show you!" Battleguard King sneered as he glared at Chelsea. "Is it my move yet?" Battleguard King asked and Chelsea nodded before he drew his card. "You know what? If you want something done right, you do it yourself." Battleguard King announced as he stepped forward. "I summon myself to the field."

"_And if this works as advertised, then he's just cost himself the duel." _Chelsea thought as she looked at the card in her hand. _"Not the first time this card has bailed me out!"_

"And just to make sure that you can't make a comeback, I'll use Megamorph on myself!" Battleguard King announced as his attack points shot up to 6000. "I'm bigger than you can handle little lady!"

"_Really, really temped to make a dick joke about that line." _Chelsea thought as she shook her head. "Come at me big boy!"

"Your loss, at least the boys will have fun!" Battleguard King responded before he charged into battle and prepared to strike…...

"Sorry but by discarding Honest from my hand, your attack points get added to Wattcentaur's." Chelsea responded and Battleguard King's eyes widened as Wattcentaur's attack shot up to 8400 before he dealt a fatal blow to Battleguard King causing him to collapse, the holograms disappeared and Battleguard King's body went with them causing his men to flee, once the coast was clear Chelsea heard a ping from her Duel Disk and looked. _"100XP, defeating a boss, guess that's how they are doing level ups."_

"Impressive showing." A thick Cajun accent rang out and Chelsea looked up seeing Felix Truman, the former Orichalcos Duelist added to the tournament, leaning against a tent pole. "I don't think we've met, I'm…..."

"Felix Truman, former Orichalcos Duelist?" Chelsea asked and Felix nodded. "I remember you from the final assault on Victor, didn't realize that you were still in the game."

"It's complicated." Felix shrugged his shoulders and Chelsea decided to take his word for it. "Come on, my companion's waiting at my campsite, we can discuss it more there."

"Lead the way." Chelsea nodded before following Felix to a campsite, however when she saw his companion she groaned. "Ray?!"

"Didn't think we would run into each other so soon." Ray greeted her happily before inviting her to take a seat. "We've got some things to discuss, don't we?"

"Right, right." Chelsea nodded before sitting next to say. _"First I get the Barbarian class and now this, can't get any worse, I guess."_


	11. The Princess Diaries

It hadn't taken Chloe, Francesca and Ricardo long to reach the campsite and they had hid out there whilst a Dwarf NPC kept watch for the guards, fortunately for Chloe it didn't take long for Francesca to get her a change of clothing and as soon as she returned from the village Chloe ducked into her tent all too eager to get out of the dress.

"_I swear, if I knew that the noble background would include a dress I would've gone with acolyte." _Chloe thought as she finished getting dressed by putting on a crop top, the dress was currently by her side on the floor though Chloe wasn't sure what she wanted to do with it yet. _"I'm pretty sure that dress is too small for Francesca and I don't think Ricardo can pull off the "man in a dress" look, also besides the fact that I'm a tomboy all it'll take for the guard to catch me is to see me wearing that dress."_

"_I'm sure you'll think of something." _Silent Magician responded and Chloe nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard her Duel Spirit Partner's voice. _"We've been spirit partners since you were seventeen and your still not used to me?"_

"_More like I wasn't expecting you to be able to communicate with me in the virtual world." _Chloe responded before picking up the guide from the nearby stool, it had fallen out of her dress whilst she was getting dressed and she sat down on the stool to read it. _"Okay, got some basic spells, Hellish Rebuke, ahh, here we go!" _Chloe thought as she found the page she was looking for, however one read of it causing a massive sweat-drop to roll down her head. _"You've got to be kidding me!"_

"Chloe, are you decent yet?" Fran's voice rang out from outside the tent breaking Chloe's concentration. "Ricardo and I want to chat in more detail, but he doesn't want to walk in on you getting dressed."

"Literally just got changed." Chloe called back and that was all the older pro-leaguers needed to enter her tent. "You came at the right time, just started reading my plot hook." Chloe added once the pair had made themselves comfortable. "I haven't played much Dungeons and Dragons, too busy working in my dad's game shop when I'm not competing on the pro-leagues, but are the stories for the campaigns usually this bad?"

"What do you mean?" Ricardo asked with a raised eyebrow and Chloe sighed.

"I've been a fan of fantasy a lot longer than I've been a duelist, swords and sorcery epics mostly and yes, that did influence my deck." Chloe explained before she shifted her weight. "That said, "your destiny will come to you when you meet your true love"?! There's more fantasy cliché's in that one sentence than I care to count!"

"Chloe, to be honest, most Dungeons and Dragons campaigns have excuse plots so that the players can go out and kill some baddies." Francesca responded with a chuckle and Chloe shook her head. "Maybe your guide's talking about Lance? I mean, you were dating when Sophia met you for the first time."

"Yeah, we are, still waiting for him to get around to popping the question but that's beside the point." Chloe nodded as she flicked her tail a bit. "Besides, I don't think they'd make it that obvious, otherwise, I think Lance would be part of our group?"

"True but I think the startling locations are randomly generated anyway." Ricardo responded as he shook his head and Chloe nodded. "I mean, for all we know, I could be your prince charming."

"No offense Ricardo but I hope not, I think it being someone I know who isn't Lance would be too obvious." Chloe responded before pocketing her guide. "So, this Lord Ravencraw guy, is he as bad as you said?"

"The guy's so evil that he may as well list "strangling puppies with the intestines of newborn babies" among his hobbies." Fran responded before noticing the odd looks that she was getting for that comment. "Seriously, I2 went a little too far when it came to making him as evil as possible, on top of the whole murdering wives thing, he's a suspected serial rapist and murderer who uses his noble status to avoid justice."

"Really? And Sophia intends to release this to the public as the licensed game of a card game that's mostly aimed at children?" Chloe asked with a skeptical look on her face and Fran just shrugged her shoulders in response. "Though I am wondering if she drew on inspiration from Jack Haynes for the character."

"Oh yeah, that scumbag." Ricardo responded with a frown as he thought back to the missing and presumed dead Orichalcos Duelist. "We never found a body after you defeated Victor, did we?"

"No, same goes for Lance's dad and Victor himself." Chloe responded as she shook her head. "Last I heard, he's been posthumously convicted of at least fifty previously unsolved rapes and murders in Utah and LA, even if he does come back, he's never getting out of jail."

"Let's hope not." Fran nodded before the Dwarf NPC entered the tent.

"The guards are on their way; we need to move." The dwarf said and the three duelists nodded.

"Leave the dress behind, it's not like either of us will wear it anyway." Fran instructed Chloe as she looked towards the dress and Chloe nodded before they proceeded to take down the campsite,

*elsewhere in the world*

Sophia was indeed in the game world but just because she had organized the tournament didn't mean that she was getting any preferential treatment, as far as the computer was concerned she and the other legendary duelists were just another player, that said she did have one thing the other competitors didn't, namely a contact line with the lead technician.

"Didn't take long for a duel to happen huh?" Sophia commented as she talked with the lead technician in a secret area of the virtual world that only she and Kaiba could access, mostly because it contained the only direct line to the real world, there were other rooms like it in the world but only Kaiba and Sophia knew were to look. "I had a feeling it would be someone from the Orichalcos group who would get the first duel."

"Yes, and Chelsea adjusted to the new rules rather quickly." The technician nodded in response and Sophia grinned. "Other duels have started throughout the virtual world but no player vs. player duels yet, seems the players are happy to cooperate on quests for now."

"Once the players start collecting destiny orbs, that won't last." Sophia responded as she shook her head. "Any player feedback yet?"

"We've had some and the reactions have been mixed." The technician responded and Sophia frowned in response. "The players love the world and how alive it feels, just to make that clear, but they aren't comfortable with some of the darker themes present in the questlines, the inclusion of rape, murder and arranged marriages have made most of the players uncomfortable."

"I suppose that is understandable." Sophia admitted before she brushed some hair behind her ear. "But when I set out to create this world, I had two things in mind, making it as realistic as possible and having the questlines be randomly generated, maybe I will tone it down a bit for he MMO's public release but until then be sure to keep me updated on further developments."

"Will do, though amusingly, a few players including Chloe Richardson have complained about their questlines being cliché storms, Chloe especially." The technician responded and Sophia couldn't help but laugh at the statement.

"Knowing her love for fantasy novels, that doesn't surprise me one bit." Sophia chucked before sighing. "Like I said, the questlines are randomly generated, and we didn't have the budget to hire some of the most famous fantasy authors around, hell we barely had the budget to hire people who used to work on Dungeons and Dragons."

"For what it's worth, the questline writers have promised to make future questlines more epic, though considering everyone's starting at level one, I suppose these basic quests suit their purpose." The technician responded and Sophia nodded in agreement. "Anything else Sophia?"

"Keep up the good work, I have a quest to work on." Sophia responded as she held up the guide and the technician nodded before hanging up, Sophia left the secret room and looked around. _"In the graveyard of heroes, you will find your destiny, maybe the players have a point about these quests being cliché ridden." _Sophia thought before walking off.

*back with Chloe's group*

An hour had passed but Chloe's group had finally stopped a bit deeper into the forest, once they had gotten the tents set up Chloe plopped down onto the ground with a huff.

"I am not used to doing this much walking in a day." Chloe commented as she ran a hand through her hair. "Hell, I don't think I did this much walking when I was a Duel Academy Student."

"We're pretty far from your father's estate, we should be okay for the night." Ricardo responded and Chloe let out a sigh of relief as she turned to the Spanish duelist. "You have any idea what your questline might mean?"

"No clue." Chloe responded before she got her guidebook out and started reading the questline again. "Your destiny will come to you when you find your prince charming", how am I supposed to do anything with that? Given how many duelists I saw on the boat, that could be anyone."

"Or it could be Lance." Fran shrugged her shoulders in response and Chloe frowned. "Maybe you need to duel Lord Ravencraw?"

"Maybe, we just need to get him separated from father's goons." Chloe responded before Ricardo started getting a campfire going. "Only thing missing is some marshmallows." Chloe joked once the fire started and Ricardo grinned.

"I didn't see any when we went into the village to get you a change of clothing, so I don't think we'll have much luck there." Ricardo responded before he sat down next to the campfire. "So, what class did you get stuck with?"

"Sorceress, I was expecting something like Paladin but then again, I do tend to use the Spellcaster side of my deck more than the warrior side." Chloe admitted before grinning. "The other stuff? I picked because I wanted to have at least some escapism, I could've easily gone with guild artisan or acolyte rather than noble but, well, how often is it that I get to play a noblewoman? Same goes with Tiefling really."

"I can think of worst reasons." Fran responded with a grin before she sat down. "As for us, I got Paladin and Ricardo got Fighter, we both went with the soldier background."

"What can I say? Wanted to keep things simple." Ricardo responded with a shrug and Chloe nodded in understanding. "I know it's a bit late now, but are you sure you don't want the dress? You did look good in it for what it's worth?"

"Do I need to remind you that I nearly tripped over that thing?!" Chloe asked with an annoyed look on her face before shaking her head. "Besides. I'm such a tomboy that the only time I ever plan on wearing a dress in the real world is when me and Lance get married, though I will admit to liking one thing about the dress." Chloe added before brushing some hair behind her ear. "It reminded me of the dress Belle wore in Beauty and the Beast only blue instead of gold, you know, the one from the ballroom scene?"

"Ah yeah, the "Tale as Old as Time" scene, I still get a laugh out of the glare you gave Lance when he suggested singing that song at Chelsea's birthday party." Fran nodded in understanding once she got the idea and Chloe grinned sheepishly. "That's fair enough I guess." Fran shrugged her shoulders in response before she and Ricardo stood up. "We're off to check on our lookout, if anything happens, we'll let you know."

"Yeah, sure." Chloe nodded before the pair left the tent that she was occupying, Chloe let out a sigh before sitting on the stool and glancing around. _"Maybe I can kill time by reading more of my guide, I am an avid reader in real life after all." _Chloe thought before getting her guide out and opening the book.

*later*

Chloe had lost track of time whilst reading through her guide and whilst her questline didn't contain much information aside from what she knew already she did take a moment to read through her spells, however her concentration was broken by a commotion outside and she quickly pocketed her book.

"_Did the guards catch up with us? Why didn't the lookout alert us?!" _Chloe thought before she stood up and poked her head through the tent's entrance, Ricardo and Fran where being restrained by several guards whilst a tall, imposing figure in dark armor interrogated them, Chloe glanced around and quickly got her answer as to why the lookout hadn't alerted them. _"They killed him, off course."_

"Where is she?!" The black knight demanded as he paced back and forth. "Her father is worried sick, and I don't want to keep him waiting."

"The same father who wanted to marry her off to Lord Ravencraw?" Fran asked only to get smacked across the cheek by the black knight, it was then that Chloe noticed the duel disk on the knight's arm.

"_Any other time, I'd be complaining about modern technology in a medieval fantasy setting." _Chloe thought as she stepped out of her tent. _"But this is my best chance."_

"I ask the questions here, not you!" The knight responded before Chloe cleared her throat and the knight looked up. "Ahh, the princess shows her face at last."

"Let them go." Chloe said in a low voice and when the knight didn't budge, she activated her duel disk. "You want to do this the hard way? Fine, I challenge you to a duel! I win, you let us go and tell father to take his arranged marriage and shove it right up Lord Ravencraw's ass! You win…"

"You come back home with us, after me and my men punish you in that tent." The black knight responded and whilst his helmet concealed his face the looks on his men's faces told the whole story and it wasn't a story that Chloe was a fan off.

"_Win and get my freedom, loose and get gang raped, dragged back home and eventually murdered by a scumbag." _Chloe thought before nodding. _"Not the first time I've dueled with such high stakes; I can only hope that the technicians pull me out of the simulation before these men have their way with me." _Chloe thought before nodding. "I accept, and I'll happily send you back to father with your tails between your legs." Chloe responded before her deck list appeared in front of her. _"Right, deck master system, would help if the guide had a list of deck master abilities."_

"_Chose carefully Chloe." _Silent Magician warned her, and Chloe nodded. _"He is dangerous, but I do have a recommendation."_

"_I'm all ears." _Chloe responded and once she heard the recommendation, she quickly made her choice. "My deck master is Silent Magician!" Chloe announced as the teenaged version of Silent Magician appeared beside her (4/1000/1000).

"My deck master is Dark Blade, the Captain of Evil World!" The black knight responded before a second knight appeared beside him, it was almost a mirror image accept Dark Blade had gold highlights in his armor and was carrying a sword (4/1800/1500).

"_I dueled a guy who used that in his chaos deck at my last tournament." _Chloe thought as she recognized the monster. _"It didn't really work because that monster only banishes dark type monsters but on the other hand, it gives me an idea of what deck this guy runs." _Chloe thought before narrowing her eyes. "Who'd going first?"

"I am!" The black knight responded before they drew their opening hands and the knight looked over his hand. "I start by setting two cards facedown." The black knight announced as the two facedown cards appeared on the field. "And I summon Rage Soldier!" The black knight announced as a young man in black armor appeared on the field in a state of perpetual rage (4/1400/1200). "I activate Dark Blade's deck master ability, by cutting my monster's attack points in half he can attack your life-points directly as long as he is warrior type monster with the dark attribute!"

"_Someone's not being paid by the hour." _Chloe thought as Rage Soldier's attack points dropped to 700 and he roared in anger. _"At least I have a way to make sure that he won't get to my life-points that easily!"_

"Rage Soldier, attack this impudent child's life-points directly!" The black knight commanded and Chloe sweat-dropped as the soldier charged towards him.

"_I would point out that I'm 22 but for all I know? My characters supposed to be a teenager!" _Chloe thought before playing a card from her hand. "You won't penetrate me that easily…"

"Err, Chloe, phrasing?" Ricardo interrupted her and Chloe's sweat-drop grew larger.

"You know what I meant! Anyway, since you declared a direct attack, I can special summon Expert Defense Warrior from my hand." Chloe announced as the soldier stopped in his tracks whilst a soldier carrying a comically huge shield appeared in front of Chloe and assumed the defensive position (1/0/2000). "He doesn't end the battle phase like Battle Fader but with two thousand defense points? He'll stop anything you throw at him in its tracks!"

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?" The black knight asked, and Chloe paused as she went to gloat some more. "I can only use Dark Blade's effect once per turn, but Rage Soldier has an effect of his own, when he attacks a monster that he a higher defense score than his attack score, that monster gets destroyed automatically with no battle damage." Black Knight added and Chloe's eyes widened as Rage Soldier ran threw Expert Defense Warrior destroying him. "Now do you see what you're up against. I end my turn!"

*outside the camp*

Whilst the duel was going on inside the camp another figure was approaching it, but not for the same reasons.

"_You will find your destiny when you find your true love?" _Amanda Cotreau, who was a Assamir Paladin in game, thought as she neared the camp. _"Cliché as all hell, and it's not like my love life couldn't get any more turbulent these past few years…..." _Amanda thought before she spotted something glowing in her pocket and retrieved in. _"Why is the guide glowing?" _Amanda thought before the guide flew out of her hands and above the camp. _"Looks like I'll find my answers there." _Amanda thought before the guide flew back towards her and she started making her way to the camp.

*back at the duel*

"_What the?" _Chloe thought as she drew her card and realized that her guide was glowing from inside her trouser pocket, she quickly added the drawn card to her hand before retrieving the guide. _"What's this about?"_

"Your magic doesn't scare me." The black knight commented bluntly breaking Chloe's train of thought. "Make your move already!"

"Fine, but don't say I didn't warn you." Chloe responded before pocketing the guide and picking up three cards. "I set two cards facedown as well, and I summon Gemini Elf!" Chloe announced as she played the card and the twin elves appeared on the field ready for battle (4/1900/900). "Quick question, does Rage Soldier's effect apply to it's original attack points?"

"If your asking if you can destroy my soldier, the answer is yes." The black knight responded stoically, and Chloe nodded. "But he is the least of your worries."

"_What I wouldn't do for a Mystical Space Typhoon right now." _Chloe thought as she went over her hand before pointing to Rage Soldier. "That's fine by me because a lead's a lead in my book! Gemini Elf, attack Rage Soldier!" Chloe commanded and the elves fired twin bursts of magic at the soldier destroying him and bringing the black knight's attack points down to 6800. "If you hadn't been in such a hurry to take the lead, your life-points would be in better shape."

"Fool! That's what I wanted you to do! Activate trap card, Dark Army!" The black knight announced as the facedown card flipped up depicting Dark Blade leading an army of warriors into battle. "Since you destroyed a level four dark type monster on my side of the field, I can special summon two more in it's place." Black Knight explained before two more Rage Soldiers appeared on the field. "Their effects are negated but that doesn't matter."

"_A trap card that Special Summons two level four monsters? If he's not setting up for a XYZ Summon I'll be surprised." _Chloe thought as her eyes narrowed. _"If he didn't already say that Dark Blade's effect was a once per turn thong, I'd think that was what he had in mind." _Chloe thought before going over her hand. "I end my turn." Chloe announced and the Black Knight drew his card.

"I summon my deck master to the field." The black knight announced, and Chloe raised an eyebrow as Dark Blade stepped onto the field. "And now I use my three monsters to construct the overlay network."

"_Well, this changes things." _Chloe thought as the three warriors were sucked into the dark portal that had appeared behind them. _"Does this mean he's changing deck masters? Can he do that?"_

"I XYZ Summon Black Knight of the Realm!" The black knight announced as he played the card and a monster that was the mirror image of himself appeared on the field ready for war. (Rank: 4/3000/2500). "And before you ask, he is my deck master now! And I activate his effect! By detaching an overlay unit he can attack your life-points directly!"

"_Suddenly my 1200 points of damage doesn't seem that impressive." _Chloe thought as the black knight activated another trap. _"And this just got worse."_

"Army of the Dark Blade allows my monster to attack twice as long as it has an overlay unit." The dark knight explained as the knight got ready for battle. "It'll be over soon! Dark Knight, attack her life-points directly!" The knight commanded and his monster bypassed the Gemini Elves before slashing her twice and bringing her life-points down to 2000. "Make your last pathetic move, I have a duel to win and you have to return home!"

"Over my dead body." Chloe responded before her facedown cards flipped up. "I activate my trap cards, Shock Draw will let me draw one card for each thousand life-points I just took, so thanks for the extra six cards." Chloe added before drawing six cards. "And Damage Condenser allows me to Special Summon one monster from my deck with attack equal too or less than the damage I just took, like Silent Magician Level 4!" Chloe added as she played the card and the youngest version of her strongest magician appeared on the field (4/1000/1000).

"It won't help you; my deck master ability lets me negate any damage from a level four or lower monster and that damage comes out of your life-points instead." The black knight responded before Chloe frowned. "It's your move!"

"_Is it bad that I want to see how Chelsea would deal with a deck life this?" _Chloe thought as she drew her card though no one in the camp realized that Amanda was taking down soldiers on her way to the middle of the camp. _"Then again, she'd probably Judgment of Thunder his Deck Master as soon as possible!" _Chloe thought before motioning to Silent Magician. "I activate my deck master's ability, since I control two Spellcasters on my side of the field I can Special Summon a third from my hand with its effects negated and level increased by one, I chose Mathematician!"

"You really think that'll help you?!" The black knight demanded as the old man with the long white beard appeared on the field (3/1500/500) and his level increased by one. "None of your monsters can compare to mine!"

"They don't need to, for my normal summon I bring out Neo, the Master Magical Swordsman!" Chloe announced as she played the card and the retrained version of the old monster Neo the Magic Swordsman appeared on the field (4/1700/1000). "I use Gemini Elf, Mathematician and Neo to construct the overlay network!" Chloe announced as she played the card and the three monsters where sucked into the portal. "I XYZ Summon Alchemic Magician!" Chloe announced as she played the card and the young green haired sorceress appeared on the field (Rank: 4/1500/1500). "She gains 200 attack points for each Spell Card in my graveyard."

"What spell cards?!" The dark knight demanded, and Chloe grinned. "You haven't played any!"

"I'm about too, the rest of the cards in my hand are all Spell Cards, so let's send them to the graveyard with Card Destruction!" Chloe announced before she discarded the rest of her hand and the black knight did likewise causing the magician's attack points to skyrocket up to 2700. "And now for the finish, I banish A/D Changer from my graveyard to force your knight into defense mode!"

"What? No!" The knight demanded as his duel monster counterpart knelt. "You'll pay for this!"

"I'll send you an IOU, alongside a middle finger to my father!" Chloe responded before pointing to his monster. "Alchemic Magician, finish it!" Chloe demanded and the magician pointed her staff at the knight before firing a beam of light at him destroying the monster and ending the duel. "You tell my father that I'd rather die than marry Lord Ravencraw!"

"Your not getting a say in this!" The black knight responded before drawing his sword. "Your coming with me, after we've had our fun, right boys?" The black knight asked but instead of the cheers he was expecting he got silence. "Boys?"

"They've left, and I suggest that you do the same." Amanda responded and the knight turned around to see Amanda handing him a scroll. "The princess and her companions are in my custody, by order of the king, you wouldn't want to risk his wrath, would you?" Amanda added and the knight read threw the scroll before frowning.

"This isn't over!" The knight added before storming off, once the knight left Chloe felt a ping from her duel disk and looked down.

"_Defeated a boss, 100XP, not bad." _Chloe thought before another ping rang out. _"Quest completed? What?"_

"Sorry for the late arrival." Amanda apologized as she sheathed her sword and walked up to Chloe. "But I had to avoid his men until I knew for certain that they were after you."

"No problem…." Chloe trailed off before the guides floated out of hers and Amanda's pockets and collided in midair. "Amanda, what was your quest?"

"Find my true love, why?" The Canadian woman asked with a look of confusion on her face before it dawned on her. "Yours said the same thing? That has to be a coincidence, right?" Amanda asked and Chloe nodded before the guides dropped into their hands and Chloe read her questline.

"Now that the lovers have been reunited, Amanda and Chloe must defeat an ancient evil and bring peace to the land." Chloe read the questline several times out loud before it dawned on the two women. "Well, this is going to be awkward to explain to Lance."

"And Adrienne." Amanda responded with a nod of agreement before sighing. "I say we talk it out first, at least your father's men won't bother us for a while."

"True enough." Chloe nodded before they started taking down the campsite. _"So much for the virtual world being the craziest thing about the tournament."_


	12. A Bard's Tale

About an hour had passed since Chloe's duel against the Black Knight (in game time that is) and things were continuing as normal, at least that's what it seemed.

"Thunder Unicorn, destroy his deck master and end this duel!" Sophia commanded and the unicorn charged towards the deck master, the ancient duel monster known as Zombie Warrior (3/1200/900), before impaling him on his horn destroying it and ending the duel.

"NO! NO!" The ancient warrior called out before he was grasped by undead hands and dragged back into his grave, Sophia had found herself in a literal graveyard and her opponent was that warrior, Sophia sighed before deactivating her duel disk.

"_I practiced extensively to prepare for this tournament and ensure that I wasn't the least bit rusty." _Sophia thought as she shuffled her deck whilst the ping went off indicating that she had finished the quest and defeated a boss. _"Yet I somehow let him keep a monster with 1200 attack points and 900 defense points for most of the duel and let him exploit Zombie Warrior's deck master ability, then again said ability is basically Monster Reborn for zombies on steroids whilst combined with Call of the Haunted's original effect, how I let that get past testing I'll never know."_

"Ma'am, are you busy?" The lead technician's voice rang out breaking Sophia's train of thought before she put a hand to her earpiece. "Something has come up in Chloe and Amanda's questline that has both women feeling extremely uncomfortable."

"I'm almost afraid to ask why." Sophia sighed before walking into a nearby mausoleum which was one of the hubs to the outside world, Sophia removed her hand from her earpiece and waited until the technician appeared on screen. "This had better be good."

"Well, that problem is that their true love storyline ended up pairing them up." The technician responded and Sophia face-palmed. "Given Amanda's history…"

"I know." Sophia interrupted him as she messaged her temples. "Let me get this straight, the randomizer chose two beautiful women to pair up for a true love quest, both of whom are currently in relationships?" Sophia asked and the technician nodded. "When I set out to host this tournament, the last thing I expected was to play homewrecker for two couples at the same time!"

"I know, I just expected them to be pair with NPCs at the very least." The technician responded as he shook his head. "I know Amanda has been open about her bi-sexuality since her relationship with Adrienne was made public, but Chloe's been dating Lance since her duel academy days."

"Chelsea did tell me that Chloe thought she was developing feelings for other women, whether she acted on those feelings is another matter." Sophia responded before shaking her head. "And completely irrelevant, when the MMO gets made public make absolutely sure that there is a "sexuality" option when selecting characters and an age limit, last thing I need is a scandal because something happened like an adult being paired with a kid."

"We didn't have to worry about that for the tournament." The technician pointed out and Sophia nodded.

"Because the tournament is strictly eighteen or older, the MMO on the other hand? Well if we want the most profits it's going to have to be a lot more family friendly." Sophia responded before sighing. "As for Amanda and Chloe, have them meet me in my office once today's session is done, if they feel comfortable enough to bring their spouses, I won't object but I want to make sure that they want to continue with the quest as it is."

"Off course ma'am." The technician nodded before Sophia left the mausoleum.

"_Your next task is deep underground, deeper than where most adventurers dare to go." _Sophia thought as she read the guide before sighing. _"If a scandal like the one I just described actually happens, it might drag my company six feet under!" _Sophia thought before exploring the graveyard.

*elsewhere in the world*

Back at the tavern where Lance and Dmitri had met up with Adrienne to continue their quest, they had just joined the mysterious stranger at his table, once Adrienne had sat down the NPC, a Gnome, addressed the trio.

"Welcome, welcome my friends." The gnome greeted them once they had made themselves comfortable. "I see before me three adventurers looking for employment."

"Well, since my career as the world's most talented bard isn't going anywhere." Lance responded and Adrienne nearly spat out her drink from laughter whilst Dmitri rolled his eyes. "I am, I can't speak for my friends though."

"Please, ignore the bard and his overly inflated ego." Adrienne commented once she had regained her composure earning an annoyed glare from Lance. "I simply seek to keep nature balanced I can't speak for my male companions, but any monetary gain is not my priority."

"So, you won't mind if we take your cut?" Lance asked and Adrienne shook her head.

"Hahaha, no." Adrienne responded whilst giving Lance a mock death glare, the French woman shook her head before turning to Dmitri. "What about you?"

"I'm with the bard, I only seek monetary compensation." Dmitri responded calmly before folding his arms. "What do you have in mind? And more importantly, who are you?"

"My name is Zipharn, I am a treasure hunter of sorts." Zipharn responded before laying out a map on the table and pointing to the center. "And the next treasure I seek is in an ancient tomb, I just need suckers…...err I mean, adventurers to help me."

"_And this guy just set off enough red flags to cover Duelist Kingdom twice over." _Lance thought with a frown and a quick glance at his companions confirmed that the older pro-duelists where thinking the same thing. _"And is it just me or did his accent just change?" _Lance thought before turning to Dmitri and Adrienne. "Can we talk about this in private?"

"I was about to suggest the same thing." Dmitri nodded before the trio headed into a side room which seemed to be a storage room. "I don't need to be a Dungeons and Dragons player to be immediately suspicious of that guy." Dmitri said once Adrienne closed the door behind her.

"Oui, I was thinking the same thing." Adrienne nodded in agreement as she leaned against the wall. "An ancient tomb in the middle of nowhere? I've seen the Indiana Jones movies enough times to know that this won't end well."

"Does that include Crystal Skull?" Lance asked earning a look of mock confusion from Adrienne.

"I have no idea what your talking about because I don't remember a film called Indiana Jones and the Legend of the Crystal Skull being released or including the nuking of a fridge." Adrienne responded and Lance quickly got the idea. "On a more serious note, the logical side of me wants to say no but I don't think we're going to progress in this quest if we don't, plus we can meet up with other players this way."

"She has a point." Lance nodded in agreement and Adrienne grinned. "Any preferences? Not counting Amanda?"

"Hard to say, given the number of participants it could be anyone." Adrienne responded with a shrug before opening the door. "But there's only one way to find out." Adrienne added before they left the storage room and returned to Zipharn's table. "We accept your offer."

"Excellent, meet me and my workers around the back." Zipharn responded before he left the tavern, once he was out of earshot Lance turned to the others.

"There's one thing I forgot to mention back there, that guy may as well be laughing maniacally whilst twirling a handlebar moustache." Lance added and Dmitri and Adrienne nodded in agreement. "That's how obviously evil he is."

"I haven't played much D and D, Amanda's more into it than me and her attempts at getting me into the game haven't worked." Adrienne responded as she shook her head before the trio stated to leave the tavern. "But from what I remember, the plots were bare bones for a reason, namely give the adventurers an excuse to go adventuring."

"And you think that Sophia applied the same logic to the game world?" Dmitri asked and Adrienne nodded in response. "Whatever the case, we had better get going if we want to get our first destiny orb."

"Right, let's go meet up with the gnome who might as well be called Dastardly Whiplash." Lance nodded in agreement before the trio left the tavern.

*later*

It wasn't long before the trio where on their way with Zipharn and their trip took them out of the city and out into the wilderness, once they reached their destination Lance checked his guide with Adrienne and Dmitri.

"Deep within the tomb is the treasure you seek." Lance commented as he read the guide before looking up at the tomb, or at least the entrance as it was a cave with a series of steps leading down. "Let's hope we're in the right place."

"Agreed." Adrienne nodded before turning to Zipharn. "Any idea of what we can expect down there?"

"Well, the locals say the place is haunted." Zipharn responded with a shrug before motioning to his much lather companion. "But my Goliath Bodyguard will be able to help out with any issues."

"I'm sure he will." Adrienne responded before they followed Zipharn into the cave, once Zipharn was a short distance away Adrienne turned to Lance. "You mentioned during the catch up breakfast with us, Amanda and Chloe that you run D and D sessions for new players at the shop."

"D and D, Duel Monsters, hell even Dungeon Dice Monsters." Lance nodded in response as he folded his arms. "Why?"

"Well, for one thing I wasn't aware that people still played Dungeon Dice Monsters, what with it being a blatant rip off of duel monsters and all." Adrienne responded with a chuckle and Lance shook his head. "But more to the point, if you were running this session, what monsters would you put in?"

"Depends on the player's level, at lower levels maybe some zombies, some skeletons, maybe a minotaur as the boss." Lance responded with a shrug whilst not paying attention to where his feet where going. "Higher levels would be where things get interesting, liches, mind flayers, beholders, all kinds of nasty…." Lance never finished his sentence as he tripped over his feet causing him to fall down the rest of the stairs before either Dmitri or Adrienne could catch him, as he tumbled down the last step his hand pressed down on a lose tile causing it to go down and he stopped himself.

Inches from where his head would've been impaled on several spears that sprung out of the opposite wall. "Lance, ate you hurt?" Adrienne called out as she and Dmitri ran up to him.

"Aside from my head nearly being shish kebabbed? Yeah, I'm fine." Lance responded as he removed his hand from the tile causing the spears to retract. "We'd better watch where we're going from now on."

"You don't say comrade." Dmitri responded as he rolled his eyes before helping Lance up. "You could've warned us about the traps comrade." Dmitri added as he turned to Zipharn.

"I was under the impression that they had fallen into disuse." Zipharn responded though it was easy to tell that he was lying through his teeth. "But I do think it's a good idea to watch where we step, who knows what awaits us beyond this initial trap."

"_Urge to "accidentally" impale him on the spears rising." _Lance thought before they made their way through the initial trap. _"At least things can't get any worse."_

"_It's probably unwise to jinx that Lance." _Lance's duel spirit partner Thestalos the Fire Monarch responded, and Lance shook his head.

"_Yeah but if spears are all they have this will be a piece of cake." _Lance thought before they walked deeper into the tomb, after a few minutes Adrienne felt the tile she had just stepped on go down and quickly removed her foot. "That's not good." Lance commented as he saw the tile continue to go down.

"Gee, you think?!" Adrienne commented with an annoyed tone before the ceiling closed in behind them blocking the way out. "Fils de pute, now what?!"

"What did you just say in French?" Lance wondered to himself and Adrienne sighed.

"Son of a bitch, sine I started officially dating Amanda I've picked up the habit of swearing in my native language when I'm out and about…..." Adrienne trailed off as they heard several moans coming from ahead and they span around. "Zombies, well, we can't say you were wrong Lance." Adrienne commented as the zombie monsters Clown Zombie (3/1350/0) Armored Zombie (3/1500/0), Dokurozio the Grim Reaper (3/900/1200) and Master Kyonshee (4/1750/1000) charged towards them ready for battle alongside several generic zombies. "Boys, I'm open to any suggestions."

"Those are weak duel monsters." Dmitri pointed out before activating his duel disk. "All we need to do is summon something stronger." Dmitri added and his companions nodded before they activated their duel disks, once that was done, they drew their opening hands and quickly played cards. "I summon Machine Prince!" Dmitri called out as a human sized robot appeared on the field (4/2200/1000).

"I summon Naturia Hydrangea!" Adrienne called out as she played the card and the small angry blue plant appeared in front of her (5/1900/2000). "Lance, don't go for a Synchro Summon, that would eat up too much time."

"Got it." Lance responded before playing the cards. "I summon Great Angus and Thestalos, the Firestorm Monarch."

"_He's still using that thing after all these years?!" _Adrienne and Dmitri thought simultaneously as the large warthog (4/1800/600) and Thestlos (6/2400/1200) appeared on the field. _"Note to self, overhaul his deck once we're on the mainland! He and his girlfriend work at a card store for god's sake."_

"Don't just stand there! Attack!" Zipharn called out to the trio breaking their concentration and they nodded.

"You got it! Attack!" All three duelists called out simultaneously and the four monsters unleashed their attacks on the horde seemingly destroying them, however the zombies rose up including the duel monsters who all now had an extra thousand attack points to boot.

"I don't think attacking them will work." Adrienne realized as her eyes widened. "Even if we bring out our strongest monsters they'll keep on reviving."

"In that case comrades, I suggest we run, use our monsters to buy ourselves time." Dmitri responded and the others nodded, once their monsters were being swarmed the five individuals legged it down the hallway trying to block out the horrible noises behind them. "As for what we do when they catch up, I don't know."

"Well, maybe we'll get lucky with Adrienne." Lance responded and Adrienne nearly face faulted but kept her balance. "Bad choice of words?"

"Try poor." Adrienne responded as she picked up the pace. "And I'm assuming your referring too "hope that I trip a trap door" and not "have a three-way with Adrienne and Dmitri", I don't even want to think about how sex works in the virtual world right now!"

"Rest assured, I meant the first one." Lance assured her and Adrienne grinned before they heard the moans again. "They're coming!"

"Guess it's now or never." Adrienne responded before getting her guide out and checking her spells. "I cast Wall of Thorns." Adrienne called out before she stopped in her tracks and span around before conjuring up a massive wall of thorns between them and the zombies. "Guide says that the wall will last for a few hours." Adrienne explained as she caught her breath. "Should buy us more than enough time to get what we need."

"Excellent thinking." Zipharn nodded in approval before checking his map. "The main chamber is just ahead, let's not wait around to test her theory."

"Agreed." Lance nodded once he caught his breath before they followed the hallway. _"One things for certain, I'm never looking at those old zombie cards the same way again."_

*meanwhile*

Whilst they were making their way through the tomb another figure was making her entrance through another passageway.

"WALL OF THORNS!" Sophia called out as she blocked the approaching zombies with the same spell that Adrienne had used, her search through the graveyard had taken her to another passageway that led to the tomb but like the first passageway it had plenty of traps along the way. _"Well, at least I'm past the zombies." _Sophia thought as she flipped some hair over her shoulder and looked around. _"Looks like this is the main chamber." _Sophia thought as she looked around, the passageway she took had taken her to a platform high above the ground. _"Thank god for Featherfall."_

"We made it." Zipharn's voice rang out and Sophia glanced up seeing Lance's group entering the room. "The treasure should be just ahead."

"_Well, this makes things awkward." _Sophia thought with a frown as she folded her arms under her bust. _"Just my luck that the group I get stuck with features Chloe and Amanda's partners, but that'll have to wait, Detect Evil." _Sophia thought before closing her eyes.

*back on the ground*

"So, why do you need this scroll exactly?" Lance asked as they approached the podium where a scroll was being suspended by sickly green energy. "Because anything that's being protected by energy in that shade of green just screams bad news to me."

"Don't you worry about that." Zipharn said dismissively as he cast Dispel Magic to disperse the energy shield. "That was just a security system, you have nothing to worry about."

"I wouldn't be so sure." Sophia called out once she had landed on the floor safely via Featherfall, she wasted no time in casting another Spell as threw out a thorn whip at Zipharn only for him to duck out of the way. "Don't let him leave with that scroll!"

"Too late!" Zipharn cackled madly before he cast Dimension Door. "Here's your payment, starving to death in this tomb!" Zipharn added before he and his Goliath Bodyguard ran through the portal, Lance tried to chase after them, but the portal dispersed just as leapt at it.

"Here's an idea, stop face-planting the ground." Dmitri suggested jokingly as he helped Lance up and they turned to Sophia. "What was on that scroll?"

"If you had bothered to use Detect Evil on him, you'd know, and I know Adrienne has that spell as it is standard for Druids." Sophia sighed as she turned to Adrienne. "As for the scroll, let's just say that Lance's hunch was right, and we had better…." Sophia trailed off as they felt heavy footsteps throughout the tomb. "What now?"

"Who dares disturb the tomb?" A deep, gravely voice rang out as a massive rock golem stepped into view, however when Lance spotted the duel disk on its arm, he got an idea. "Who took the scroll?!"

"You literally just missed him." Lance responded as he stepped forward. "We don't know where he's gone, that's the truth!"

"Lies!" The golem bellowed as he activated his duel disk. "We will duel to see if you are telling the truth, win and I'll set you free, fail and you will rot here."

"Not like I have much choice." Lance responded as he activated his duel disk. "Because this bard's about to rock you like a hurricane!"

"There is no wind here!" The golem responded and Lance sweat-dropped before they drew their opening hands. "My deck master will be Destroyer Golem." The golem announced as a large, rock golem appeared by his side (4/1500/1200).

"_Okay, what would be a good choice?" _Lance wondered as he went through his deck, when he saw one card however he quickly chose it. "Ultimate Baseball Kid steps up to the plate!" Lance called out as the young boy in the baseball uniform appeared on the field (3/500/1000) and his companions face-faulted the moment they saw it.

"Ultimate Baseball Kid?! Really?!" Sophia asked as she got back to her feet and gave Lance an annoyed look. "Literally thousands of Duel Monster cards get printed by my company yearly and you use that old relic?!"

"It gets worse." Adrienne responded as she got back to her feet alongside Dmitri. "He still has Great Angus in his deck." Adrienne added and Sophia ran a hand down her face.

"Lance, that card was outdated when you were still in Duel Academy!" Sophia pointed out before taking a deep breath. "Are we seriously leaving our fates up to the guy who hasn't updated his deck in five years?!"

"Hey, I updated my deck!" Lance protested as he turned to I2 CEO. "Once or twice, mostly when you hit my deck with a banlist."

"If I hit any of your cards, it's only because they were causing problems in the pro scene," Sophia sighed as she messaged her temples in annoyance. "Or obviously broken cards from the Orichalcos days that'll never see a reprint for as long as I draw breath."

"Weren't they counterfeit cards anyway?" Adrienne asked and Sophia shook her head.

"You'd be amazed at how many members of the board of directors want me to make official versions of those cards, with their effects untouched." Sophia responded with an annoyed sigh as she ran a hand down her face. "And before you ask, the day that happens is the day I get drunk and go streaking through LA whilst screaming racial slurs at the top of my lungs because at that point my reputation would've been ruined already."

"At least that would make for an amusing news story." Lance responded and Sophia went to rebuke but instead found herself agreeing with Lance. "Back to the main event, who's going first?"

"I am." The golem responded before going over its hand. "I activate Destroyer Golem's deck master ability, by discarding one Earth Type Monster from my hand I can draw two cards." The golem announced before discarding a card and drawing twice. "I can only do this once per turn, I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode to end my turn." The golem announced as he set the three cards and Lance drew his card.

"Good, I was seconds away from complaining about how broken that effect would be if he could still use it." Adrienne grunted as she folded her arms and Sophia barely contained her laughter. "Something I said."

"I'll tell you after the duel." Sophia responded as Lance looked over his hand. "But let's just say that the playtesting for the deck master abilities wasn't nearly as thorough as I thought, and I've been planning this since the Orichalcos Days."

"I'm just impressed that Lance has gone this long without making a Never-ending Story joke." Dmitri commented and Lance sweat-dropped. "He is showing remarkable restraint; he really has matured since we first…..."

"Err, actually, I've never seen Never-ending Story." Lance interrupted them and his companions face-faulted. "Same goes with Lord of the Rings."

"Even though Chloe's one of the biggest fantasy nuts I know." Adrienne responded as she made her way back to her feet. "How she hasn't broken up with you, I don't know."

"She hasn't seen them either." Lance responded earning disbelieving looks from the others. "She prefers reading fantasy to seeing them in other media, though admittedly she did nearly have an aneurism when she saw how much stuff the Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor games changed from the source material."

"Note to self, don't tell her that Shadow of War is one of my favorite video games." Adrienne muttered under her breath before shaking her head. "Don't you have a duel to win?"

"Right." Lance nodded before going over his hand. _"And I just realized that I never found out what Ultimate Baseball Kid's deck master ability is, hope its good, mostly so I can prove them wrong." _Lance thought before picking up a card. "I activate Heaven's Lost Property! Now we'll both draw three cards and discard one." Lance announced as he played the card and both he and the golem drew their cards before discarding. "Now I banish the monster I just discarded to summon Inferno in defense mode!"

"I'll snuff out that flame before you know it." The rock golem bellowed out as the small flame with the angry face appeared on the field (4/1100/1900).

"He won't be around long enough for you to try because I tribute Inferno to summon Flamvell Dimensional Traveler!" Lance responded as he played the card and Inferno vanished from the field, in its place stood a tall man with flaming hair wearing white armor and a red cape (6/2500/200). "When this guy is tribute summoned using a fire type monster, I can Special Summon one fire type monster that I banished, so welcome back Great Angus!"

"Jesus Christ, I thought you guys were kidding." Sophia grumbled under her breath with a facepalm as the large warthog appeared on the field (4/1800/600). "Most I can say is that he'll at least get some damage through on this move."

"Let's hope so." Dmitri nodded in agreement before Lance pointed at the golem's defense monster.

"Let's get this show on the road, Great Angus, attack his defense monster!" Lance commanded and the warthog charged into battle before impaling the golem's Giant Rat (4/1400/1200) on its tusk destroying the creature. "Giant Rat? And you guys chastise me for using Great Angus and Ultimate Baseball Kid?"

"Ultimate Baseball Kid is only good if you have a way of getting multiple fire type monsters onto the field quickly." Sophia responded as she messaged her forehead in annoyance. "Great Angus is a generic four star beatstick who can't even be summoned with Rekindling, do you see our point yet?!" Sophia added and Lance sweat-dropped.

"Maybe, but thee guys haven't failed me yet." Lance responded before turning to the golem. "Don't you have a monster to summon with Giant Rat's effect?"

"Yes." The golem responded before he searched through his deck and played a card revealing another Giant Rat. "Are you going to attack?"

"Since your monster is in attack position, I think I will, Dimension Traveler, attack his second Giant Rat!" Lance commanded once the golem shuffled his deck and the warrior kicked Giant Rat in the head destroying it and bringing the Golem's life-points down to 6900. "That's first blood to me, my life-points are untouched!"

"But not for long, I activate my facedown card Rock Bombardment." The golem responded as the trap card flipped up. "I send one Rock Type Monster from my deck to the graveyard to inflict five hundred points of damage to you." The golem added as a rock crashed into Lance bringing his life-points down to 7500. "As for Giant Rat, I use it's effect to summon my last Giant Rat." The golem added as Giant Rat appeared on the field again.

"Okay, did I2 release a version of Rekindling for Earth Type Monsters?" Lance asked as he turned to Sophia. "Because so far he's been doing nothing but sending Earth Type Monsters to the graveyard."

"Even if my company released such a card, there are more efficient ways of getting cards in the graveyard." Sophia responded as she folded her arms. _"I'm almost tempted to say that he's running a Blasting the Ruins deck but even if he has three copies of that card, Lance still has the advantage."_

"Whatever you say." Lance shrugged his shoulders in response before picking up two cards. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Lance announced and the golem drew his card.

"I activate my Deck Master ability." The golem called out before discarding a monster and drawing twice. "I set a monster in defense mode and switch Giant Rat to defense mode and end my turn."

"That's it?" Lance asked with a sweat-drop as he drew his card before turning to Sophia. "I was expecting more exciting duels than this!"

"Hey, don't look at me, I'm not the one who programmed the decks for the AI opponents." Sophia responded as she put her hands up defensively. "For one thing, I wouldn't even know where to start when it comes to computer programming! Besides that, I told the technicians to keep me in the dark about the decks for the AI opponents because I was planning on competing!"

"You expect us to believe that you weren't tempted to sneak into the office and look." Adrienne asked earning an annoyed look from Sophia. "After all, Maximillian cheated in every duel he participated in during Duelist Kingdom, like father, like daughter, right?"

"Stepdaughter." Sophia corrected the French Duelist with an angry look on her face. "And he was under the influence of the Millennium Eye at the time, well, that and enough wine to fill a hundred wineries, what I'm getting at is, he wasn't in the right mindset during the first Duelist Kingdom."

"Gee, and here I thought the guy who kidnapped Mokuba Kaiba and Solomon Moto was the picture of mental health." Lance chimed in sarcastically and Sophia face-palmed.

"Look, unless you want to see just how angry I can get, drop this conversation now!" Sophia warned them and the duelists gulped before nodding. "The original duelist kingdom has been a black eye on not only my adoptive family but I2 as a whole, part of my motivation for this tournament was letting said black eye finally heal!"

"Well, in any case, it's my move." Lance responded before going over his hand. "I sacrifice Great Angus to summon Thestalos, the Firestorm Monarch!" Lance announced as Great Angus vanished from the field and was replaced by the monarch of fire (6/2400/1200). "Thestalos's effect activates, you are losing the card on the far right!" Lance called out as the monarch threw a fireball at the card destroying it. "So, what's the news?"

"I discard a Spell Card and take no damage." The golem responded before holding up the card, Lance couldn't get a clear look at the card due to how far up it was, but Lance could instantly recognize the green outline.

"Fine, I'll make do with attacking your monsters, Thestalos, attack his facedown monster, Dimension Traveler, attack his Giant Rat!" Lance commanded and his two monsters unleashed their attacks, however when a small black cat was revealed to be the facedown monster (2/500/300) Lance frowned in confusion as both monsters where destroyed. "A Cat of Ill Omen? What's a dark type monster doing in a largely Earth Type Deck?"

"Because there's no earth monsters that search for trap cards." The golem responded before holding up Giant Rat. "Giant Rat's effect is first on the stack, I use it to summon Warrior Lady of the Wasteland." The golem announced before he searched through his deck and played the card revealing a young blonde woman wearing a brown hat and matching cape over a green crop top and skirt though her belt kept her naval covered (4/1100/1200). "And now A Cat of Ill Omen will place a Trap Card on top of my deck."

"_Well, that more or less confirms that he wants cards in his graveyard for a reason." _Sophia thought as she folded her arms. _"What that reason is, I don't know, but at this rate we'll be finding out soon enough because by my count? He has eight cards in his graveyard already."_

"I end my turn." Lance announced and the golem drew his card.

"I set the trap card I retrieved from my deck facedown." The golem announced as he set the card. "And I activate my second Rock Bombardment." The golem announced as the other facedown card flipped up and another rock crashed into Lance bringing his life-points down to 7000. "I switch Warrior Lady of the Wasteland to defense mode and end my turn." The golem announced as the young woman crouched into defense mode and Lance drew his card.

"You're not being paid by the hour, are you?" Lance asked and the golem said nothing in response. "I'll take that as a yes, anyway I attack…..."

"_Lance, wait."_ Thestlos interrupted him and Lance paused. _"Use the deck master ability, here's how it works."_

"_You couldn't tell me sooner?" _Lance asked with an annoyed look on his face before grinning. "Change of plans, I activate Ultimate Baseball Kid's Deck Master Ability, it's called Batter Up and with it I can send one Fire Type Monster from my deck to the graveyard and inflict his attack points as battle damage to your life-points!"

"WHAT?!" The golem yelled out as Lance held up Bonfire Colossus (8/2600/2200) and the young baseball player launched a baseball at the golem bringing his life-points down to 5300.

"Unfortunately, I can only do that once per turn, otherwise I'd jut use that effect to win the game." Lance added as he shuffled his deck and sent his monster to the graveyard. "But I'll settle for the next best thing, I summon Ultimate Baseball Coach!" Lance announced as he played the card and the Ultimate Baseball Kid's Coach appeared on the field (1/500/200). "More on him later, Thestalos, attack Warrior Lady of the Wasteland." Lance commanded as the monarch threw a fireball at the young woman destroying her.

"Warrior Lady of the Wasteland's effect activates." The golem announced as he searched through his deck again and played another Warrior Lady of the Wasteland.

"Man, this has to be the most boring duel I've even been a part off." Lance commented as a sweat-drop rolled down his head. "At least the Warrior Lady of the Wasteland is giving me something nice to look at." Lance added before sweat-dropping even further as Sophia and Adrienne cleared their throats. "Not saying that you ladies aren't nice to look at, but I am concentrating on this duel, also don't tell Chloe that I'm saying this!"

"_If it wasn't for the fact that I'm still figuring out how to tell him, I'd tell him about Chloe and Amanda's true love quest." _Sophia thought with a frown on her face. _"At least I have plenty of time to prepare for that meeting."_

"Dimensional Traveler, attack his second Warrior Lady!" Lance commanded and the traveler kicked the Warrior Lady in the head destroying her and bring the Golem's life-points down to 3900. "Won't be long until I beat you at this rate."

"We will see." The golem responded before he played his third and final Warrior Lady. "Besides, the only monster you have left is that coach."

"Not for long! I activate Urgent Tuning!" Lance announced as his facedown card flipped up and Ultimate Baseball Coach leapt into the air with Dimensional Traveler. "I tune my two monsters together to Synchro Summon Flamvell Urquizas!" Lance added as he played the card and the tall muscular Synchro Monster with flaming hands appeared on the field (6/2100/400). "Since I used Baseball Coach in a Synchro Summon of a Fire Type Monster, I get to draw a card." Lance added as he drew his card. "And since it's still my battle phase, Urquizas, attack Warrior Lady of the Wasteland number three!"

"_He has to be running out of searchers at this point." _Adrienne thought as Urquizas destroyed Warrior Lady of the Wasteland and brought the Golem's life-points down to 2900. _"I still don't know what the golem's game is but so far Lance has been dominating this duel."_

"Urquizas gains three hundred attack points as he just destroyed your monster." Lance added as Urquizas's attack increased to 2400. "And I'm assuming your going to use Warrior Lady's effect again?"

"Indeed, I use Warrior Lady of the Wasteland's effect to Special Summon Marauding Captain." The golem announced as the captain appeared on the field (3/1200/400). "I activate my trap card Time Machine to bring back Warrior Lady of the Wasteland."

"_And here I was worried about that facedown card." _Lance thought as Warrior Lady of the Wasteland returned to the field. _"If he wanted to get a lock going, he should've saved the Time Machine for Marauding Captain, provided he has another Marauding Captain in his hand." _Lance thought as he looked over his hand. "That ends my turn but unless you can turn this around, it's over."

"It'll soon be over." The golem responded as he drew his card. "For you, I summon my second Marauding Captain!" The golem announced as a second brunette captain appeared on the field. "I decline to use his effect, instead I activate my Spell Card Resonance Device increasing the levels of my captains to match Warrior Lady of the Wasteland's level."

"_Wait, is this what he's been building towards?" _Sophia thought as the two male warriors' levels increased to four. _"An XYZ Summon?!"_

"I use my three monsters to open the overlay network." The golem announced inadvertently answering Sophia's question as they were sucked into it. "I XYZ Summon Ancient Graveyard Guardian!" The golem announced as he played the card and from the portal emerged an old man in a long dark robe with an impossibly long grey beard carrying a staff (Rank: 4/0/0). "When he is XYZ Summoned whilst I have at least ten Earth Type Monsters in my graveyard, he gains a thousand points for each one."

"Err, guys, how many cards is that?" Lance asked with a gulp as he turned to his companions.

"Three Giant Rats, two Warrior Lady of the Wastelands, two unknown monsters sent there with Rock Bombardment, another two sent there with Destroyer Golem's Deck Master Ability, I don't see his attack going up so I'm guessing he didn't discard a monster with Heaven's Lost Property." Adrienne responded as she did the math and Lance breathed a sigh of relief. "You're lucky, he falls just short of having a monster with ten thousand attack points."

"I activate Ancient Graveyard Keeper's effect, detaching an overlay unit to destroy one monster you control." The golem added and Lance's eyes widened as he pointed his staff at Urquizas destroying it and bringing his attack points up to ten thousand. "Fortunately for you, I can't attack the same turn I use this effect, it's your move."

"Lucky me!" Lance responded with a nervous laugh before drawing his card. "I guess it's my turn to be on the defensive, I switch Thestalos to defense mode and I set a card facedown." Lance announced as the facedown card appeared on the field behind the crouching monarch. "That ends my turn." Lance announced as the golem drew his card.

"This duel is over I activate Stop Defense to force your monarch into attack mode." The golem announced as the monarch stood up. "Finish him off!" The golem commanded and the guardian pointed his staff at Thestalos.

"It's not over until the fat lady sings! I activate my trap card Nutrient Z! Since I'm about to take a lot more than two thousand points of damage this adds four thousand life-points to my total before damage calculation!" Lance responded as the trap card flipped up and his life-points went up to 11,000 before the guardian's attack hit destroying Thestalos and bringing Lance's life-points down to 3600. _"I can't take another hit like that."_

"I end my turn." The golem announced and Lance drew his card.

"_Well, here goes." _Lance thought as he set his drawn card. "I set one card facedown and end my turn." Lance announced and the golem drew his card.

"It's over, this tomb will be where you rot for eternity, attack his life-points directly!" The golem commanded and the guardian attacked Lance…

"Your right, it is over." Lance responded as his facedown card flipped up. "For you! I activate Dimension Wall to send the attack right back at you!"

"NO!" The golem yelled out as the attack redirected back at him destroying him in the process and bringing his life-points down to zero.

"Don't scare us like that again comrade." Dmitri commented as they walked up to Lance. "And I'm sorry we doubted your deck master choice."

"To be honest, I didn't even know what Baseball Kid's ability was." Lance responded with a shrug. "I just picked him because he hasn't let me down since I got into the game." Lance added before frowning. "Any ideas for how we get out of here."

"Wall of Thorns will still be up for quite some time." Adrienne responded as she folded her arms. "And even then, we'd have to deal with the zombies."

"You guys made the same mistake I did by thinking that my monsters could deal with the zombies easily enough right?" Sophia asked and the trio nodded. "Even if I didn't cast Wall of Thorns, my entranceway is up there." Sophia added as she pointed to the elevated platform. "I don't think anyone has access to flight yet and I don't see how we could climb up it."

"I think I found the solution." Dmitri commented and the others turned to him before seeing that there was a passageway behind the golem, before anything else happened a ping was heard coming out of Lance's duel disk indicating that he had beat a boss and earned a hundred XP. "I don't see the quest completed message, so I guess we have to go deeper."

"Where's the inception horn when you need it." Lance joked before they made their way towards the passageway.


	13. Rules of Nature

It had been a couple of hours since Chloe's duel against the Black Knight and by now the group (which now included Amanda for obvious reasons) had stopped in a village to resupply and rest up for the night in the local tavern which was where the group currently was.

"_So, I entered this tournament thinking that it'd be a fun experience." _Chloe thought as she sat on the edge of the bed in her tavern room, on Amanda's suggested she had cut her hair a lot shorter than she usually had it going for elbow length dark brown hair to shoulder length to make it easier for Chloe to disguise herself which Chloe found weird. _"And instead I end up in a relationship with another woman who happens to be dating another woman in real life and my hair's been cut, hell of a first day, that's all I'm saying."_

"_It could be a lot worse." _Silent Magician responded as she appeared next to her protégé. _"You could've lost the duel and be subject to whatever punishment they had in mind for you."_

"_Don't remind me, I'm going to have nightmares about that for weeks!" _Chloe responded with a shudder before there was a knock at the door and Chloe looked up. "Come in." Chloe called out and Amanda opened the door having ditched her armor for casual clothing. "Hey Amanda, what's up?"

"Just wanted to see how my game designated girlfriend is doing." Amanda responded with a shrug before entering the room and closing the door behind her. "And no matter how many times I say that out loud, it still sounds weird."

"Tell me about it." Chloe nodded in agreement as Amanda sat next to her. "I think the only way it could be weirder is if we were both single, hell I haven't even thought about how I'm going to tell Lance when the session ends."

"Same thing with me and Adrienne, and we were already sleeping together when I was dating Casey and she was dating Jacques." Amanda nodded in understanding as she looked at the younger woman. "Off course, our boyfriends knew about that but that ended up backfiring when they thought they could get away with the same thing."

"You realize you just made it sound like Casey and Jacques were sleeping together, right?" Chloe asked with a slight laugh and Amanda laughed before shaking her head. "Still can't believe that stunt they pulled."

"Yeah, I guess you can blame me and Adrienne being young and naïve when we sent them those photos and that video." Amanda nodded in agreement. "By the way, how are you finding your shorter hair?"

"Still feels weird." Chloe admitted as she fiddled with her hair. "I haven't worn my hair this short since I was eight years old, I mean yeah, it's a lot easier to brush but I've gotten so used to brushing my longer hair by now."

"Yeah, I know the feeling, I started growing my hair out when I was sixteen." Amanda nodded in understanding. "Still, if you having shorter hair means less chance of your father's men catching us it should be worth it."

"Hopefully." Chloe nodded in agreement before glancing out the window. "You had any contact with your ex boyfriend since the scandal?"

"What do you think?" Amanda asked as she shook her head. "I cut off all contact with Casey after my sister found the pictures online and Adrienne did the same to Jacques when I told her, though to be honest, by that point my feelings for Adrienne were getting a lot stronger than my feelings for Casey, the revenge porn scandal was just the straw that broke the camel's back."

"Why am I being reminded off Chelsea's ex-boyfriend, the one who turned out to be an Orichalcos Duelist." Chloe sighed in response and Amanda shook her head.

"All I'm going to say about that is that if I had been dueling him in Brandon's place, I would've forfeited the duel and bashed his brains in with my duel disk, Orichalcos be damned." Amanda admitted earning a surprised look from Chloe. "My sister was in a similar situation to Chelsea, thankfully the relationship ended before it got any worse but that didn't stop me from giving her boyfriend a piece of my mind."

"I can imagine, Sarah's the closest I've had to a sister but aside from her. I've been an only child for as long as I can remember." Chloe added with a frown as she leaned back.

"You heard much from her since she was released from jail?" Amanda asked and Chloe shook her head.

"Part of the conditions of her release was to be checked into a mental health facility, don't think I need to explain why." Chloe explained with a sad sigh. "Good news is, my dad paid for her to have plastic surgery to repair most of the damage done to her face, almost didn't recognize her when she came out of the doctor's office, in fact she kind of looked like me but with my hair this short."

"I swear, that was just a coincidence." Amanda asserted with a laugh and Chloe grinned. "How is she doing?"

"Doing well, the doctors expect her to be discharged next year." Chloe added before sighing. "Repairing the relationship between her and dad will take a while longer, there's a lot of burnt bridges between them even if the plastic surgery helped repair a few of them." Chloe added before turning to Amanda. "How old is your sister anyway?"

"Just turned eighteen, she's about to start her senior year in High School." Amanda explained before glancing at the ceiling. "She's planning on following me into the dueling world, hopefully without the scandal part." Amanda added before she started absentmindedly rubbing Chloe's thigh, Chloe noticed but rather than resist she started rubbing Amanda's thigh in return. "Now I'm thinking back to the revenge porn scandal, and to think, at the time the only scandal we were involved in was when a hotel maid caught me and Adrienne in bed together after a wild night of sex."

"Simpler times I guess." Chloe shrugged her shoulders in response and after a few minutes the rubbing got more intimate…...

"Hey guys, me and Fran are planning our next move." Ricardo said as he opened the door just as Amanda and Chloe leaned in for a kiss. "Figured you…or I can come back later…or watch…"

"Err, yeah, we were just about to leave, weren't we Chloe." Amanda said quickly after she stood up, Chloe's quickly followed suit before following them out of their room.

"Err, yeah, what Amanda said!" Chloe nodded in agreement whilst grinning rather sheepishly before she followed the older duelists out of her room. _"Oh, for fuck's sake! Am I developing feelings for Amanda? And is she feeling the same way? That was almost like how my sex sessions with Lance start, only without the facial hair…...or penis…and I'm going to shut up now." _Chloe thought as she exited her room.

*elsewhere in the world*

It took Andreas, Raven and Jade the better part of an hour to reach Annastriana's village and by the time they got there it was the middle of the day in game time, once they had arrived at the village Ann lead them to the largest hut, Ann went in first after telling them to wait and a few minutes later Ann emerged from the tent.

"My father, the tribe chieftain, is inside." Ann explained as she turned to the trio behind her. "He'll give you an idea of what to expect once you reach the spring."

"Forgive me for pessimistic." Andreas commented as he folded his arms. "But it seems a bit odd to me that would let three strangers enter a spring that your tribe has protected for years."

"You and your companions saved me from those thugs and whatever horrid fate they had in store for me." Ann responded as she turned to Andreas. "Not only is it the least I can do, but there have been troubles in that area for some time now, my father can explain in greater detail than I ever could." Ann added before she led them into the tent where a much larger man sat on a wooden throne of sorts. "Father, these are the adventures I told you about."

"It appears that I owe you a debt of gratitude." The chieftain nodded towards the trio as they walked up to him. "I can't offer you much in the way of gold, us druids don't have much use for it, but from what Ann told me, you want to explore the mystical spring."

"Yes, that is correct." Raven nodded as she stepped forward. "What are these troubles that you have been having?"

"As Druids we are tasked with preserving the rules of nature and maintaining it's balance, the mystical spring is our most sacred site." The chieftain explained as he leaned forward. "However, in recent times it has become corrupted, dark magic has infested the land and unless it is dealt with soon, the spring as we know it will be no more."

"What kind of dark magic are we talking about?" Jade asked and the chieftain's frown deepened.

"Necromancy." The chieftain stated simply, and the trio shared a look. "The ultimate perversion of nature, the spring is our main burial site but a group of necromancers entered the spring and have been using it to fuel their dark armies, worse yet, I suspect that they have a much more sinister purpose, such as bringing their dark lord into the realm."

"_Why do I get the feeling this dark lord is Yami Marik?" _Andreas thought before frowning. "Do you know anything about this dark lord?"

"Only that if he is brought back, he will bring the end of the world as we know it to the realm." Ann chimed in and Andreas nodded. "I wish we had more information for you but as druids, we don't make a habit of finding out information about sealed evils."

"My daughter will guide you to the spring but that is as far as she will go." The chieftain added and Ann nodded. "She is set to take over the tribe once I die, but if she dies before then and is brought back as an abomination…."

"My only request, should the unthinkable happen, is that you make my end swift and painless." Ann added as she lowered her head. "Being brought back as a perversion of nature would be bad enough, however there is evidence that the undead these necromancers bring back to life are in fact aware of their horrid fate."

"_Makes me wonder if Sophia's been reading, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream lately, or been playing the video game." _Andreas thought before nodding to the others. "You have our word; I suggest we move quickly as we don't have time to lose."

"Agreed, follow me," Ann nodded in agreement before leading the trio out of the tent.

*elsewhere in the world*

Back at the tomb Lance, Adrienne, Dmitri and Sophia were walking through the narrow hallways looking for a way out and whilst it was a bit uncomfortable for the massive Dmitri the others? Not so much.

"I'm telling you, there's nothing wrong with a bit of nostalgia in my deck." Lance commented as he glanced over at the two Brunette women whilst Dmitri lead the way. "Besides, Chloe has just as many old cards in her deck, her ace monster was new when Yugi Moto was still an active pro-duelist."

"That may be true Lance." Adrienne responded as the French woman shook her head. "But Silent Magician Level 8 is still a Spellcaster with 3500 attack points and is absolutely lethal in combination with cards like Diffusion Wave Motion, Great Angus and Ultimate Baseball Kid can't exactly say that."

"Besides that, I released a retrained version of Great Angus just in time for your graduation duel." Sophia commented with a frown on her face. "Do you even have Greater Angus in your deck?"

"Yeah but you know as well as I do that it's all part of luck of the draw." Lance responded with a shrug and Sophia frowned. "Changing the subject really quick, there's a question that's been running through my mind since I entered the tomb and only you can really answer it Sophia."

"Shoot." Sophia responded as she folded her arms. _"Please don't let it be about the plot hooks, I'm still figuring out how to explain the situation with Amanda and Chloe to him."_

"When we entered the tomb, I tripped on some stairs, fell down them and triggered a spear trap that nearly got my head shish-kebabbed." Lance explained as he turned around whilst walking backwards. "Now I'm no medical expert but I'm pretty sure that's lethal damage, what would've happened to me?"

"If your worried about being dead in the real world, don't worry, we tested the system thoroughly, the most you'd get is a splitting headache, I should know because my head did get impaled on such a trap." Sophia explained as she messaged her forehead. "I was more amused that the technicians were worried that I was going to fire them as soon as the tournament was over than anything else, more to the point, you would've been given some headache pills and allowed to return to the game world at your leisure."

"And since you're clearly using the same outfit from the demo, I'm guessing the character won't die?" Adrienne asked and Sophia nodded.

"Too much hassle to keep doing that each time a character lost his/her hit points." Sophia explained as she leaned to the side. "Choosing a new class, starting location, plot hook, it would take too long and the other players would be far ahead of you to the point of being unfair, we're hardly talking about a Dark Souls type game here guys."

"That's a relief." Lance sighed in relief before he realized that Dmitri had stopped, mostly by backing into the massive Russian. "Let me guess, more zombies?"

"Nothing that simple comrade." Dmitri responded before stepping aside to let the others have a better look, the hallway had ended in a drop so steep that they couldn't see the floor but there was another platform on the opposite wall that was some ways down but not steep enough to incur death. "Don't suppose any of you have Featherfall."

"I do but I'm running low on Spell Slots." Sophia responded and Adrienne and Lance nodded to indicate that it was the same for them. "What do you say, jump?"

"I've DMed enough games to know that a natural one would likely kill us." Lance responded as he pointed to the pit. "I'm open to suggestion."

*back with Andreas's group*

The spring was roughly twenty minutes away from the village though given that the path to the spring took them through a thick wooded area that still meant that it wasn't an easy trek, despite that fact they reached their destination easily enough.

And quickly found a familiar face waiting for them.

"Come on you bastards, I can do this all day!" Zach, otherwise known as Nicola's older stepbrother, called out to the spring as he swung a sword around, Andreas and the three women took a moment to recover from the shock before they stepped into the clearing. "No one stops Zach the Zacher!"

"He does realize that's not a real word, right?" Jade whispered the Raven who could only shrug.

"I don't know but Andreas seems to know him." Raven responded as Andreas stepped towards the taller man.

"Zach, what are…..." Andreas trailed off as Zach swung his sword in Andreas's direction only just missing his head. "Zach, it's me!"

"Andreas?" Zach asked before quickly sheathing his sword. "Sorry man, I've been encountering nothing but trouble since I found this place."

"That trouble is why we're here." Ann chimed in as she stepped forward. "Who are you and how did you get into the spring? This is a sacred holy site and unless you have a good explanation I…."

"I kinda stumbled into this place." Zach responded sheepishly prompting Ann to face-fault. "I was looking through the area when I found these evil looking guys in dark robes, I engaged them in combat, but they escaped to this clearing before I could finish the job."

"Zach, what does your guide say about your plot hook?" Andreas asked with an exasperated sigh and Zach reached into his pocket to check his guide. _"If it says anything about a mystical spring, I'll scream."_

"In a mystical spring, you will find the key to your destiny." Zach responded and just as he had promised himself, Andreas let out a scream. "What?"

"That's my plot hook too, same goes for Raven and Jade." Andreas explained as he motioned to the two women before he took a deep breath. "Did you see where the bad guys went?"

"Deeper into the forest, over there." Zach responded as he pointed to a nearby path. "They said something about a big waterfall that led into a deep lake." Zach added and Ann's eyes widened. "Not good?"

"That's the most sacred site in the spring, where we bury our dead." Ann explained and the duelists' expressions turned grim. "You may not have been in the group originally but at this point, you need all the help you can get."

"Agreed." Andreas nodded as he turned to Ann. "We will take it from here, the spring will be back in your possession before you know it." Andreas added and Ann nodded before she left the area. "And now for the formalities, Raven, Jade, this is Zach Hastings, Nicola's older brother."

"Charmed, now why don't you lead us to where the necromancers went?" Raven asked and Zach nodded before leading them towards the path, once Zach was out of their earshot Raven turned to Andreas. "I assume that he's Nicola's step-brother?"

"What makes you say that?" Andreas asked as he turned to Raven.

"He looks nothing like her just for starters." Raven explained as she glanced over at Andreas. "And his mannerisms couldn't be more different than hers."

"Your right, they aren't related by blood, I won't go into details for the sake of Nicola's privacy however." Andreas responded and Raven nodded in understanding. "How do you want to deal with the Necromancers when we get to the area?"

"Hit them hard and fast, if any of them can duel I shall leave them to you." Raven responded with a nod and Jade nodded in agreement. "I don't know what to expect from them, but I think we can expect the worst."

"I'd say that's a safe bet." Andreas nodded in agreement before they concentrated on following Zach.

*a bit later*

After a good few minutes of trekking through the thick foliage the group finally located the group that Zach had scattered earlier as several figures in dark robes huddled around a circle that had been carved into the ground.

"I count seven guys I say we get in a surprise round." Jade commented as she got her daggers out, the area in question was a large area with trees and a waterfall that led into a lake with a cave entrance towards the rear. "Take out as many as we can, and Andreas duels the leader?"

"One problem with that." Raven said as she turned to the Australian woman. "These are Necromancers, remember? As soon as we cut one down, they can just as easily bring him back."

"Raven is right." Andreas confirmed with a nod and the two women turned to him. "But I don't see any other way we can deal with them, besides, when we killed those thugs who tried to rape Ann their bodies disappeared seconds later."

"Good point, and if we act quick enough, we can kill most of them before they have a chance to regroup." Raven nodded in agreement before turning to Jade. "It was your suggestion, so I say you lead the charge Jade."

"On it." Jade nodded in agreement before she threw a dagger at the nearest robed figure, the dagger impaled itself in the figures neck and he collapsed just as the others looked up. "You're up guys."

"I don't think so." A new female voice rang out and the group froze as a woman emerged from the caves wearing dark robes with gold trimmings, two other thugs emerged from the cave dragging Ann with them. "You really should've sent someone with the tribal chief's daughter, she'll make a fitting sacrifice."

"Let her go." Andreas demanded as she stepped forward. "Or else…"

"Or else what?!" The leader asked before one of the thugs restraining Ann pulled her hair back exposing her throat so that the leader could put a dagger too it. "One more step and I spill her blood, I'd hate to kill such a pretty being, but the dark lord's bloodlust must be fulfilled."

"Let her go." Andreas repeated as he reached for his bow. "What's faster? My bow or your reflexes? Do you really want to test that?"

"If you think for a second that your pathetic bow has a chance of killing me, your sadly mistaken." The leader responded before spotting the duel disk on Andreas's arm. "You know what? Why sacrifice one person when I can sacrifice multiple people at the same time?"

"What are you talking about?" Andreas demanded as his eyes narrowed and the woman smirked before removing her hood revealing that she was a good looking red haired woman with green eyes and facial tattoos.

"We will duel, when I win, I will kill you all." The leader explained before tossing the dagger at another thug who caught it and held it to Ann's throat. "IF you win, I'll let you live, we'll leave and I won't kill her."

"Fine, but if you don't stick to your word, you'll be sorry." Andreas responded as both redheads activated their duel disks. "Do you have a name?"

"My name is Ariana." Ariana responded as they drew their opening hands. "The last opponent you'll ever meet!"

"_And other lines I got sick of hearing during the Orichalcos saga." _Andreas thought before their decks appeared in front of them. _"Ahh off course, the deck master selection." _Andreas thought before going through his choices. "My deck master will be Kaiser Vorse Raider!" Andreas announced as the blue halbeard wielding Beast Warrior appeared on the field (5/1900/1200).

"Suit yourself, my deck master in Pumpking, the King of Ghosts!" Ariana announced as the massive one eyed pumpkin with the crown on its head appeared on the field (6/1800/2000).

"_This is likely the first time Pumpking has seen play in a competitive tournament since the original Duelist Kingdom." _Andreas thought before going over his hand. "I suppose your going to insist on going first?"

"How astute of you." Ariana responded before going over her hand. "I set two cards facedown and a card in defense mode." Ariana announced as the three cards appeared on the field. "It's your move." Ariana announced and Andreas drew his card.

"I too will set two cards facedown." Andreas announced as his two facedown cards appeared on the field. "And I summon Gene-Warped Warwolf." Andreas announced as the large muscular humanoid wolf appeared on the field (4/2000/100). "Attack her defense monster!" Andreas commanded and the wolf pounced towards the facedown monster, revealed to be a turtle with a pyramid on its back in place of its shell (4/1200/1400) which was quickly destroyed. "Pyramid Turtle, between that and your deck master I should've guessed your deck was a zombie deck."

"Why go against theme?" Ariana asked as she held up the card. "When Pyramid Turtle is destroyed as a result of battle and sent to the graveyard, I can special summon one Zombie Type Monster from my deck with 2000 or less defense points."

"And that's nearly every card in the game." Andreas responded with a frown as Ariana started searching through her deck. "Do I even want to know what you're searching for?"

"You'll find out soon enough." Ariana responded before she played the card and a skeleton in purple robes appeared on the field crouching down (1/300/200) causing the other duelists to do double takes.

"Skull Servant?!" Andreas asked skeptically as he stared at the monster. "Do you know how difficult that deck is to pull off effectively?"

"I know, and that's where my deck master's ability comes in." Ariana responded as she motioned to Pumpking. "When a level two or lower Zombie Type Monster is Special Summoned to my side of the field Pumpking wants to make them feel welcome, in other words, it allows me to Special Summon as many copies as I can from my deck." Ariana added as she retrieved two other copies of Skull Servant and played them, however unlike the first they were in attack mode. "However, they cannot be summoned in or switched too defense mode."

"_That could be a problem, especially if she draws something that let's her tribute all three Skull Servants." _Andreas thought as Ariana's deck finished shuffling. "It's your move."

"Well, well, if it isn't my lucky day." Ariana commented before holding up a card. "I send Wightprincess (3/1600/0) from my hand to the graveyard to activate her effect, reducing the attack points of all monsters currently on the field by their rank or level times three hundred, your puppy's just been neutered." Ariana added as Gene-Warped Warwolf's attack points dropped to eight hundred.

"Yes but that also affected your servants." Andreas pointed out and indeed, all three Skull Servants' attack points had dropped to zero. "Even if they could beat Warwolf due to Wightprincess's effect not affecting them, that's still not a lot of damage."

"Shame isn't it, that they won't be sticking around much longer?" Ariana asked mockingly before she picked up all three Skull Servants. "I sacrifice my servants to summon Wright Royal Guard!" Ariana announced as she played the card and a skeleton wearing what vaguely resembled Roman armor appeared on the field wearing the iconic Skull Servant robe as a cape (8/0/0). "I know what your thinking, those stats are pathetic for a level eight monster, but if I tribute all Skull Servants to summon this monster, he gains one thousand attack points for each Skull Servant in the graveyard, and guess what? Wightprincess counts as Skull Servant in the graveyard." Ariana added as Wight Royal Guard's attack points went up to five thousand. "Best part is? The attack boosts stack up, Wight Royal Guard, attack his Warwolf."

"_This is certainly going to be painful in the morning." _Andreas thought as his facedown card flipped up. "I activate Interdimensional Matter Transporter to remove Gene Warped Warwolf from play for the rest of the turn." Andreas announced as his monster disappeared and he took the full brunt of the attack bringing his life-points down to three thousand. "He'll be back to his original attack points when he returns at the end of your turn, but he won't be alone." Andreas added as his other trap card flipped up. "Thanks to Damage Condenser I can now Special Summon a monster from my deck with attack equal too or less than the damage I just took."

"Not bad, too bad I can't let that happen." Ariana responded as her facedown card flipped up it's artwork depicting the scene from Imperial Order but with the King of Skull Servants and several Skull Servants in the place of the king and the commoners. "I activate The Kings Decree, as I have Skull Servants in my graveyard your trap card is negated, you just let me lay waste to your life-points for nothing!"

"Maybe, maybe not." Andreas responded as he shook his head before sending all three cards to the graveyard. "Is that everything?"

"Go ahead, this won't last long." Ariana responded, and Andreas took it as his clue to take his turn.

"_If Nicola was here, she'd be alternating between face-palming at her bother's antics, cheering me on and trying not to laugh at Ariana's comment, what with her being my girlfriend and all." _Andreas thought as he drew his card and looked at it. "I activate the Deck Master Ability of Kaiser Force Raider I discard one beast or beast warrior from my hand to draw another card." Andreas announced as he discarded a monster and drew his card.

"That's pathetic compared to my Deck Master Ability." Ariana scoffed as she glanced over at Pumpking. "Oh, and by the way? I can do it as many times as I want."

"_Something tells me the play testing for the Deck Master Abilities was not as thorough as Sophia would've liked." _Andreas thought as he drew his card. _"And now that I think about it, what weird cocktail of drugs and alcohol was Sophia's father on when he designed Pumpking? I know it's pretty much accepted that he based all of the early designs on Egyptian Hieroglyphs, but I don't think they had pumpkins in Ancient Egypt!" _Andreas thought before playing a card. "I activate Obedience Schooled!"

"Obedience what?!" Ariana demanded as she folded her arms whilst Andreas imputed commands into his duel disk. "What are you up too?!"

"Taking a page out of your book for starters." Andreas responded as he held up three cards. "As I control no monsters, Obedience Schooled allows me to Special Summon three level two or lower Beast Type Monsters from my deck with their effects negated, so I summon the Tuner Monster Key Mouse, Baby Raccoon Tantan and Mogmole!" Andreas announced as he played the cards and the trio of weak monsters appeared on the field (1/100/100) (2/0/800) and (2/800/800). "These monsters will take down your guard."

"A rat, a racoon and a mole? Pull the other one!" Ariana responded with a scoff as she rolled her eyes. "Mogmole is the strongest monster you've got, and it doesn't even have a thousand attack points, why don't you just admit that I've got you beat?" Ariana asked before motioning to Ann. "I promise her death will be quick and painless."

"You'll forgive me for not holding you to your word." Andreas responded before he retrieved a card from his graveyard. "More to the point, as I have at least three monsters on my side of the field I can special summon Star Tailed Fox!" Andreas announced as he played the card and a medium sized fox with stars on each of it's four tails appeared on the field (4/1100/1200). "The effect of Obedience Schooled states that I can only Special Summon beast type monsters after using it, so that's what I'll do! I tune my four monsters together!"

"Synchro Summon, I should've known." Ariana grumbled under her breath as the four monsters leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon. _"Doesn't matter, nothing he can summon can match the power of my deck!"_

"I Synchro Summon Leogun, Lord of the Jungle!" Andreas announced as he played the card and the massive lion appeared on the field with a roar (9/2900/2500), "First, since I uses Star Tailed Fox for the Synchro Summon of a Beast Type Monster I can draw one card for each Synchro Material Monster aside from Star Tailed Fox." Andreas added before drawing two cards. "Second, I activate Leogun's effect! Banishing one Beast Type Monster from my graveyard to destroy Wight Royal Guard!" Andreas added as the lion pounced on the skeleton destroying it. "I have to skip my Battle Phase, but your most powerful card is gone!"

"But not forgotten, when Wight Royal Guard is destroyed by battle, I can Special Summon King of Skull Serpents from my deck." Ariana responded and Andreas frowned as the taller version of Skull Servant appeared on the field (1/?/0). "And don't forget about my deck master!" Ariana added as two other kings appeared on the field. "And like the Royal Guards, they gain a thousand attack points for each Skull Servant or King of Skull Servants in my graveyard, oh and by the way? Wight Royal Guard counts as Skull Servant in the graveyard." Ariana added as the kings' attack points increased to six thousand.

"_Maybe I've been going about this all wrong." _Andreas thought as he glanced at Ariana's deck. _"She's been playing a lot of cards from her deck, six at last count, maybe there's a way I can turn her strategy against her?" _Andreas thought before picking up the cards he had drawn with Star Tailed Fox. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Andreas announced and Ariana drew her card.

"_Lady in Wight, if I summon her then my victory will be all but assured." _Ariana thought as she looked at her drawn card. _"But I don't need too, I can wipe him out this turn and those traps are obvious bluffs." _Ariana thought before adding the card to her hand. "King of Skull Servants, finish him off!" Ariana commanded and the three servants charged into battle.

"Big mistake, I activate Protection from Beyond!" Andreas announced as his facedown card flipped up. "First, this negates your attack and ends your Battle Phase, then it forces us to mill cards equal to the number of cards currently on the field."

"Seven cards? No big deal." Ariana shrugged her shoulders before they milled their seven cards. "If your planning to deck me out then I'll beat you long before you get the chance."

"We'll see about that." Andreas responded as he folded his arms. "My turn yet?" Andreas asked and Ariana nodded prompting him to draw his card.

"I activate Spellbook inside the Pot, now we'll both draw three cards." Andreas announced as he played the card and both he and Ariana drew three cards. "That's sixteen cards taken from your deck, unless you have a larger than average deck size then you are down to twenty four cards, not a good look when we're only a few turns into the game."

"Neither is losing by five thousand points by turn three." Ariana pointed out and Andreas frowned. "Are doing anything else?"

"I activate De-Synchro! I use this to split Leogun into its individual parts." Andreas announced as he played the cards and Leogun disappeared from the field to be replaced by Key Mouse, Star Tailed Fox, Baby Racoon Tantan and Mogmole. "As they are no longer under the effect of Obedience Schooled, my weaker monsters get their effects back, furthermore I summoned them all in defense mode."

"Lambs to the slaughter." Ariana scoffed as the four monsters knelt. "Are you done?"

"I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Andreas announced as the two cards appeared on the field and Ariana drew her card.

"_He's bluffing, he must be! He can't possibly deck me out that fast!" _Ariana thought before playing a card. "I didn't see a point in playing this last turn, but you forced my hand! I summon the Lady in Wight!" Ariana announced as she played the card and an old, skeletal woman appeared on the field sitting upon a yellow throne (3/0/2200). "And your luck just ran out, aside from her my Level 3 or lower Zombie Monsters can't be destroyed in battle or affected by Spell/Trap Cards, it's just a matter of time now." Ariana added before playing a card. "I activate Foolish Burial Ground! Since I have at least one Zombie Type Monster on my side of the field I can send that many zombies from my deck to the graveyard. Spoiler alert: they all count as Skull Servants."

"And here's another Spoiler Alert." Andreas responded as Ariana sent four cards to the graveyard increasing her attack power to ten thousand. "Your halfway through your deck."

"I'll show you! Kings of Skull Servants, destroy his pathetic monsters!" Ariana commanded her kings, who's attack powers were now at 10,000, who charged towards the four monsters.

"I activate my Trap Card Urgent Tuning! I use this to tune Key Mouse, Star Tailed Fox and Mogmole together!" Andreas announced as the three monsters leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon. "I Synchro Summon Voltic Bicorn in attack mode!" Andreas announced and once the bright flash faded the large bicorned unicorn appeared on the field (7/2500/2000).

"I would've thought they'd have taught you basic math at Duel Academy Andreas." Ariana commented as she folded her arms. "Bicorn is powerful but my Wights are a lot more powerful!"

"It's not strength that'll win the day Ariana." Andreas responded as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "All it'll take is decking you…..." Andreas trailed off before it hit him. "What did you call me?!"

"_Damn it! Said too much." _Ariana cussed as her eyes narrowed. "Forget I said anything! King of Skull Servants, your new target is due for a trip to the glue factory."

"_Too late." _Andreas thought as his eyes narrowed before activating a trap. "I activate Rainbow Life! By discarding a card from my hand, this Trap Card turns all battle damage into life-point gain for the rest of the turn." Andreas added before discarding a card from his hand and whilst King of Skull Servant's attack hit, it instead skyrocketed Andreas's life-points to 13,000. "And since Voltic Bicorn was destroyed by battle, we both mill seven cards."

"_Damn it! Now I'm getting worried!" _Ariana cussed as she milled her deck down to thirteen cards. _"I refuse to end my first duel this way!"_

"So, tell me, has all the deck manipulation been worth it?" Andreas asked but before he could do anything else Ariana deactivated her duel disk. "What are you doing?!"

"What does it look like? I refuse to lose by decking out!" Ariana sneered as the holograms disappeared. "Men, gut that bitch like a fish! We've leaving!"

"NO!" Andreas called out but it was too late as Ariana's men shoved Ann to the ground and started repeatedly stabbing her in the gut. "You said you wouldn't hurt her!" Andreas called out over Ann's screams of pain and Ariana smirked as she casted Dimension Door.

"Your right, I didn't hurt her, my men did." Ariana said as she stepped through the portal with her men.

"Tell me one thing before you go." Andreas said and Ariana turned to him. "You're not an NPC, are you? You're a tournament participant?"

"Took you long enough!" Ariana smirked as she folded her arms. "Real name's Ariana Sommers, I was a small name on the US regional scene before this tournament, afterwards? I'll be famous as the evilest bitch in the tournament!" Ariana added as she stepped through the portal. "We will meet again Andreas my guide says that you are my enemy after all." Ariana added as the portal closed behind her and once the shock wore off the group rushed over to Ann's side."

"Ann, speak to me!" Andreas plead but one look at her stomach wounds made one thing clear, they were fatal. "We will bring her to justice, I promise!"

"In there…." Ann trailed off before her body disappeared but before it did, she managed to point them towards the cave.

"Sophia never said anything about players being evil." Andreas commented as he turned to Raven and Jade who shrugged.

"We're just as surprised as you are but evil characters are an option in Dungeons and Dragons." Jade responded before looking towards the cave. "We'd better find out what was in there, for Ann's sake!"

"Indeed." Andreas nodded before they walked towards the cave. _"I'm having a long discussion with Sophia about this out of game, and maybe with Ariana if I run into her." _Andreas thought before they entered the cave.


	14. Clear as Crystal

Back at the tomb the group had successfully made the jump and made their way to a large room where they had stopped to rest and regain their spell slots, however Sophia got a message from the lead technician prompting her to go into one of the hud areas.

"Seems I can't go five minutes without some complaint cropping up." Sophia sighed as she walked up to the terminal and the technician appeared in front of her. "Are you sure this couldn't wait until after the session?"

"Not something like this." The technician responded before getting Ariana's picture up. "One of the American Duelists, Ariana Sommers, seems to have gone rogue."

"What do you mean rogue?" Sophia asked with an annoyed look on her face. "I would say she's multiclassed into Rogue, but everyone started at first level."

"It seems she's taken to playing an evil character." The technician responded and Sophia's frown deepened. "I would disqualify her but so far? The worst she's done is bail on a duel rather than lose via deck out and kill an NPC, one of the major ones from Andreas's questline."

"Can you salvage it?" Sophia asked and the technician nodded. "What do we know about Ariana? I know she was selected for the tournament based on the good word of her sponsor."

"Hold on a second, I'll get the profile up." The technician responded before typing away at her keyboard and Ariana's profile came up seconds later.

"Age: nineteen, height: five foot four, weight: 106ibs, born in Athens, Greece as Ariana Servopoulos to a mother of Greek and Iranian descent, quite the interesting family tree she's got there, product of a one night stand, moved with her mother to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in search of a new life when Ariana was four where her mother got married to an American man, guess Ariana decided to take the American surname, mother opened a Greek Restaurant with Ariana's stepfather." Sophia read the profile with her arms crossed. "Learned the game at North Academy which she graduated from at the age of eighteen and last activity before the tournament was losing the Pennsylvania Regional Finals to the reigning champion." Sophia added before frowning. "Is that all?"

"That's all I could find on her, as for her in game stats: her assigned class was wizard, she chose the acolyte background, and she's using her real deck, not sure how she got an evil questline as those where supposed to be reserved for NPCs." The technician responded and Sophia shook her head. "What do you want to do with her?"

"First off, find out as much as you can about her activity since the Pennsylvania Finals." Sophia responded as she folded her arms. "The Pennsylvania Finals were months ago and we both know that a lot can happen in that time, in the meantime? Have her meet me in my office after the session, after Chloe and Amanda, for all we know? The evil character thing might be a publicity stunt that she's doing independent of her sponsors in a desperate ploy to drum up some hype."

"Can pro-duelists get that desperate?" The technician asked and Sophia let out a sad sigh.

"There's not a worse feeling for a pro-duelist to feel like your career's going nowhere fast, especially when they are as young and new to the pro-scene as she is, I should know, I was once in her shoes." Sophia explained before shaking her head. "If she is just misguided as I suspect then I'll be lenient with her, especially since this seems to be the first time she's gone out of her way to sabotage a tournament and for all we know, she might not realize the damage she's doing, but I won't tolerate this behavior from anyone else!"

"And if she's working for Yami Marik's spirit?" The technician asked and Sophia paused.

"Still a grey area, or do I need to remind you that Marik held the Millennium Rod?" Sophia asked and the technician shook her head. "The rod's buried with the rest of the Millennium items but Marik showed that he can still possess people."

"Understood." The technician nodded before hanging up and Sophia left the hud.

"_I knew I was naïve to think that this tournament would go off without a hitch." _Sophia thought as she sat down on the ground and saw her companions fast asleep. _"But I didn't think it'd be to this extent! I can only hope that next year's tournament will go smoother, still, the session will be ending soon so I should be able to get things ironed out with Chloe, Amanda and Ariana." _Sophia thought as she got ready for bed.

*elsewhere in the world*

Ariana and her minions had long since left the spring and were hiding out in a cave system in the nearby mountains waiting for it to blow over, Ariana herself had retreated further into the cave than the rest of her minions and for good reason.

"_First duel of the tournament and what happens?" _Ariana thought as she sat down upon a large rock that was smooth enough to at least give her a comfy place to sit and removed her hood. _"Andreas turns my deck strategy against me and nearly decks me out! The only reason I didn't lose that way was because I chickened out, but I doubt Sophia will let me pull the same trick twice." _Ariana thought before typing some commands into her duel disk causing the deck master database to come up. _"I can't let that happen again! Pumpking the King of Ghosts' Deck Master Ability is powerful, but the right opponent can make me deck out as Andreas demonstrated earlier."_

"_You will have your revenge my child." _A dark demonic voice rang out in her head causing the Greek-Iranian woman to stop in her tracks. _"Let me guide you on the right path!"_

"WHO'S THERE?!" Ariana called out but no one answered, after a few seconds Ariana let out a deep breath before resuming her search. _"Am I going crazy? God, I hope not! I know I'm playing an evil character but that's all it is, a character!"_

"Did you say something ma'am?" One of her minions asked just as Ariana picked her new deck master and Ariana looked up before shaking her head. "What do you want to do about the village Annastriana came from?"

"Ignore it for now, unless they decide to try to get revenge on me for Annastriana's death." Ariana responded as she rested her arms on her knees. "If they do come seeking revenge? Burn it to the ground and slaughter any survivors." Ariana added and the minion nodded before walking off, once she was sure she was alone Ariana ran a hand down her face. _"God, I hope no one takes that sentence out of context and sends it to my sponsors!"_

*later elsewhere in the world*

Following their meal Nicola and her group hung out at Ciri's camp for a few in game hours, by now the sun was starting to set and Nicola was sitting atop a hill over the camp watching it.

"_Doesn't matter if it's in real life, at Duel Academy, back home in Queens or here in the Virtual World." _Nicola thought with a grin as she watched the sun set over the horizon in the distance. _"I'll never get tired off the sunset, off course New York doesn't allow for views like these." _Nicola thought as she brushed some hair behind her ear and rested her other hand on her leg. _"I'll have to talk dad into looking into getting me a place in a rural area when I get back to New York, I may have grown up there, but I guess I just miss nature in general."_

"Quite a view isn't it?" Mark's voice rang out and Nicola looked up seeing the Australian National Champion. "The sunset I mean."

"Yeah, pity there aren't a lot of good spots back home in New York for me to watch it." Nicola sighed as the Australian man sat next to her. "Did you get any info from Ciri?"

"According to her the animal we're after doesn't come out until after dark." Mark responded as he made himself comfortable. "Phil's trying to get some more info out of her, but she doesn't know much, she's just a traveling druid who helps adventurers like us."

"No offense to Ciri but it doesn't sound like we'll get much else out of her." Nicola nodded in agreement as the sun finished setting and it started to turn dark. "So, any pressure on you since the World Championships are being held in Sydney this year?"

"Like you wouldn't believe." Mark responded with a slight laugh before shaking his head. "As the Australian National Champion, I get automatic entry as I'm representing my home country but the level at the World Championships is something else."

"How bad is it?" Nicola asked and Mark shook his head.

"The last champ before me, Ray Lanza? Well the last time the World Championships were in Australia he got eliminated in the first round and lost the title in the process." Mark explained and it took Nicola a moment to remember him.

"The guy with the dinosaur deck?" Nicola asked and Mark nodded. "I mostly remember him being one of several duelists defeated by Lance's younger brother who was like, fifteen at the time?"

"That's the one, those two back to back eliminations drove him to quietly retire from pro-dueling, last I heard he was working for my alumni, South Academy." Mark nodded before Nicola let out a yawn. "I'm not boring you, am I?"

"I think I'm just jetlagged from the long flight, then again you flew in from Australia and you don't seem affected." Nicola pointed out as Phil came up the hill behind him.

"Had a power nap through the flight, helped keep my energy up." Mark explained before Phil cleared his throat and the pair looked up.

"You know Mark, I could've sworn she started dating Andreas after Battle City." Phil teased the pair causing them to face-fault. "Ciri's just told me that the creature was spotted in that nearby forest." Phil explained as he pointed to the forest. "And it's being hunted."

"Finally, some action!" Nicola said as she sprung to her feet. "So, who are the evil, dastardly hunters that stand in our way?"

"Goblin Attack Force." Phil responded and Nicola face-faulted again.

"Goblin Attack Force? The universal butt monkey of Duel Monsters in my first opponent?!" Nicola asked as she got back to her feet with an annoyed look on her face. "I was hoping for something a little more epic than that!"

"We could always take them on if you want." Mark offered and Nicola shook her head.

"I'm the druid, remember? Makes more sense for me to take them on." Nicola responded before she started walking towards the forest leaving her male companions in her dust. "Are you guys coming or what?!"

"We're coming!" The two older pro-duelists called out to her before they ran to catch up with her.

*a bit later*

"There it is guys." The leader of the Goblin Attack Force said as the small group located the beast in question. "We're in for a big payday."

"Nope." Nicola's voice rang out and the goblins span around seeing Nicola, Phil and Mark standing there with their duel disks at the ready though Nicola was at the front, hearing the noise the beast, which neither of the trio could get a good look at it. "I hope you boys weren't planning on poaching, because as a druid, it's my job to protect the forests."

"Leave us alone your goody-to-shoes!" The leader snapped before spotting Nicola's duel disk. "Why don't we make this fun? We'll duel! We win, well, you leave us alone, you win we'll leave."

"Fine by me." Nicola nodded before Phil and Mark gave her space to activate her duel disk and the deck master selection screen showed up. _"So many good options but what do I chose?" _Nicola thought before grinning broadly as she got an idea. "My deck master is…..."

"ROCK! PAPER! SCISSORS!" The goblins called out causing Nicola and her companions to face-fault in response.

"_Why didn't I choose the Entertainer background?! WHY?!" _Nicola thought with an annoyed huff as the rock paper scissors game continued. "Why don't you guys just save me the headache and have the leader duel me?"

"Fine, it's getting dark anyway, and I need my beauty sleep." The leader responded as he stepped forward. "And as the leader of the Goblin Attack Force I happily declare that we are serving as the deck master!" The goblin added as the squad got ready for battle (4/2300/0)

"Sweet! Here's mine!" Nicola responded as a mighty roar echoed throughout the region and Rainbow Dragon appeared above the field (10/4000/0) and once they saw the dragon most of the goblins started to panic.

"Err, Nic, don't you think that's a little bit overkill?" Phil asked as massive sweat-drops rolled down their heads whilst staring at the massive, colorful dragon whilst most of the Goblin Attack Force were now hiding behind trees.

"Didn't the tutorial say that I'd lose the game if my deck master got destroyed?" Nicola pointed out as she motioned to her dragon not noticing it glitching out. "What monster could they have that will attack over that?"

"Deck Master rejected." A computerized voice rang out from Nicola's duel disk and Nicola blinked before her dragon disappeared and she quickly turned her attention to her duel disk. "Rule violation one: deck master level far exceeds the level of the opponent, please chose again."

"…excuse me, what?!" Nicola demanded as she glared at her duel disk. "THERE WAS NOTHING IN THE RULE BOOK ABOUT THIS!"

*back at the tomb*

Sophia's sleep was abruptly broken by a beeping from her earpiece; however, she was so tired that she barely had the ware withal to put a hand to her earpiece in time to answer it and instead got a text.

"_Nicola's complaining about me not explaining deck master levels in tutorial duel or rule book." _Sophia thought with a sigh as she shook her head. _"I knew there was something I forgot to cover during the intro!" _Sophia thought before shaking her head and sending a text back. _"Remove the rule violation as rule was not made clear from the start, I'll explain before the next session to avoid another incident like this but until then, let me get some god damn sleep!" _Sophia read the text out in her mind before hitting the send button and lying back down. _"If my sleep gets interrupted again, they'll be hell to pay! I was already jet lagged from the flight from LA and I need my beauty sleep."_

*back at the duel*

"Rule violation overturned." The voice rang out again and Nicola breathed a sigh of relief as did the goblins. "Please chose deck master."

"Wow, who knew yelling at your duel disk actually worked." Nicola muttered under her breath before going through the list again, however one card was conspicuously absent. "Rainbow Dragon, great, so much for my plan." Nicola added before choosing Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus as her deck master. "Sapphire Pegasus is my deck master, happy?"

"What?" Phil asked as he and Mark rubbed their ears in pain and Nicola sweat-dropped as she turned to her male companions.

"Hehe, oops, sorry!" Nicola said with a sheepish laugh before turning to her opponents. "What about you guys?"

"Yeah, we'll take a Pegasus over a dragon any day of the week!" The leader responded before they drew their opening hands. "We'll go first!" The leader added before he drew his card. "I set two cards facedown and I summon Goblin Recon Squad!" The leader announced as he played the cards and goblins that looked like the Goblin Attack Squad appeared on the field, however they were naked except for the night vision goggles they were wearing (4/1700/0). "It's your move."

"_Goblin Attack Force is using a Goblin Deck." _Nicola thought as she drew her card and looked over her hand. _"Not sure why I didn't see that coming! Still seventeen hundred attack points is not something to sneeze at but I don't have anything that can attack over it, well, aside from Sapphire Pegasus but all he'd need to do is summon himself and I'll be out of the tournament so fast that Andreas will never let me live it down." _Nicola thought before sweat-dropping as she realized that most of the Goblin Attack Force had fallen asleep waiting for her to make a move, the one exception being the leader. "Hey, wake the rest of the goon squad up already!"

"Huh?" The leader blinked before turning around and frowning. "Wake up you lazy bastards!" The leader called out to them and the rest of the goblins awoke with a start whilst Nicola and her male companions sweat-dropped.

"You were taking that long because you were strategizing, right Nicola?" Phil whispered to the autistic woman who laughed nervously.

"I don't even have that excuse." Nicola admitted causing her male companions to face-fault before she turned her attention back to the goblins. "Make sure you guys stay awake for this one, I activate Terra-Forming! Using this Spell Card, I can search my deck for a Field Spell and add it to my hand!" Nicola added as she started inputting commands into her duel disks and once Mark and Phil were back on their feet, she added the card to her hand and let her deck auto-shuffle. "I won't keep this turn going for much longer, I activate Ancient City – Rainbow Ruins!"

"Still using this Field Spell Nic?" Mark asked as the scenery changed to the ancient ruins with the rainbow over them.

"Hey, the card may be old, but its effects still pack a punch." Nicola asserted before turning to the goblins who where admiring the scenery. "Same can't be said for my opponents!"

"We'll show you!" The leader snapped at Nicola who shook her head.

"Then so me! I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode." Nicola announced as the three monsters appeared on the field. "It's your move." Nicola announced and the leader drew his card. _"And I just realized that I never got a good look at either Sapphire Pegasus's or Rainbow Dragon's deck master abilities."_

"_Good thing you've got me as your Duel Spirit Guide." _Sapphire Pegasus responded before telling Nicola her deck master ability.

"I activate my Trap Card Final Attack Orders!" The leader announced as his trap card flipped up breaking Nicola's concentration. "Now any monster that would change to defense mode has to stay in attack mode."

"_Because of course they have that in their deck." _Nicola thought as she folded her arms. _"And I'd bet my benefits money for this week that the other facedown card is Imperial Iron Wall."_

"Goblin Recon Squad, attack her defense monster!" The leader commanded and the goblins charged towards Nicola's facedown monster, revealed to be a man seemingly made of crystal in a conductor's uniform (1/0/0) which was quickly destroyed.

"And it's time like these that I'm glad that Final Attack Orders doesn't work on Facedown Monsters." Nicola admitted not noticing the iconic sounds coming from her duel disk. "What Crystal Conductor is destroyed by battle I can search my deck for two Crystal Beast Monsters and add them to my Spell/Trap Card Zone."

"Are you sure about your life-points being untouched?" The leader asked and Nicola blinked before she looked at her life-point counter and realized that her life-points had dropped to 6300. "That's our deck master ability at work! When a monster with zero defense points attacks a defending monster that monster inflicts piercing damage."

"_Great, I may as well not have played a monster at all!" _Nicola thought with a frown as she sent Crystal Conductor to the graveyard. _"And for all the crap I've given them, I will admit, they are keeping me on my toes, but if I don't turn this around…..." _Nicola thought before face-palming hard. "God damn it!"

"Something wrong Nic?" Phil asked and she turned to him.

"I was so sure that I wouldn't take damage from that combat round that I completely missed the trigger for one of my facedown cards." Nicola groaned as she ran a hand down her face. "Even worse, it's Damage Condenser! I could've used it to summon a monster that could take down his recon squad." Nicola whispered making sure the goblins didn't overhear her.

"Don't worry about it, if it helps, I think we both would've missed the trigger in your shoes since they waited until after the attack to disclose that info." Mark assured her and Nicola grinned in appreciation. "Besides, you know better than anyone that it's not how you start."

"It's how you finish, thanks, I needed that." Nicola sighed in response before turning around to face the goblins. "I'm guessing the recon squad tried to change to defense mode whilst my back was turned?"

"Exactly! It's your move!" The leader responded and Nicola drew her card.

"_Great, I still don't have anything that can attack over his monster, defense is my best bet, especially since Final Attack Orders doesn't work on facedown monsters." _Nicola thought before picking up a monster. "I set a monster in defense mode…."

"Not so fast! I activate my facedown card Light of Intervention!" The leader announced and Nicola's eyes widened when she realized what it meant. "You can't set or defend!"

"_Not missing the trigger this time!" _Nicola thought as her facedown card flipped up. "I chain Crystallin Shield! Since I have at least one Crystal Beast Monster in my Spell/Trap Card Zone your trap is negated." Nicola announced as Light of Intervention shattered and breathed a sigh of relief. "As I was saying, I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn." Nicola announced as she set the facedown monster appeared on the field and the leader drew his card.

"How do you think she's doing so far?" Phil whispered to Mark who frowned. "We've seen Nicola perform a lot better than this since she hit the pro-leagues."

"I think her initial Deck Master choice getting rejected threw a spanner in the works." Mark responded as he folded his arms. "Nicola's recovered from that and her mistake with her trap card well enough but she's going to have to get her head back in the game fast."

"Not for a lack of trying on my part!" Nicola called out to her male companions who sweat-dropped. "My ears are super sensitive, can't count the number of times I've heard something that I shouldn't have."

"Right, so how about we avoid talking about our personal lives around her." Phil suggested to Mark who nodded in agreement.

"Enough talk!" The leader responded impatiently before playing a card. "I summon Goblin Ninja Squad in attack mode!" The leader announced as several goblins in stereotypical ninja gear appeared on the field (4/1300/0) and Nicola sweat-dropped when she saw them.

"_Goblin Ninja Squad? Has Sophia's creative team been getting names from cheap Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles rip offs?" _Nicola thought as the leader pointed at her.

"If I control another monster with Goblin in its name, Goblin Ninja Squad can bypass your monster and attack you directly!" The leader added and Nicola's eyes widened as the goblins threw their shurikens at her. "And things are about to get more painful!"

"First, I use the effect of Rainbow Ruins to cut the damage I would've taken in half." Nicola responded as her life-points dropped to 5800. "Next, I activate Damage Condenser! I discard one card from my hand to Special Summon Crystal Beast – Garnet Dolphin!" Nicola announced as she played the card and the red dolphin appeared on the field (2/500/200) and when they saw the monster the goblins nearly fell over laughing. "For obvious reasons, my Dolphin's in attack mode." Nicola added as the goblins continued to laugh. _"Did I really just say that out loud?!"_

"Attack mode, defense mode, doesn't matter, Goblin Recon Squad, attack her dolphin!" The leader commanded and the goblins charged into battle…...but where stopped by a sudden surge of electricity. "What?!"

"I didn't discard just any monster for Damage Condenser's effect." Nicola responded as she held up Electromagnetic Turtle (4/0/1800). "Since Electromagnetic Turtle was in my graveyard during your battle phase I can banish it to end your battle phase for you."

"Err, thanks, I guess." One of the background goblins thanked Nicola earning the ire of the leader.

"Don't thank the enemy! She just stopped us from dealing more damage!" The leader chastised him, and the lesser goblin gulped. "It's your move." The leader announced and Nicola drew her card.

"_Wait, Shield and Sword? I thought I took this out during my days at Duel Academy!" _Nicola thought as she looked at the drawn card, however when she looked at her other cards, she got an idea. _"You know what? I think I'll run with this!" _Nicola decided before turning to the goblins. "I'm about to make you regret having Final Attack Orders on the field."

"You are?" The leader asked as Nicola played her card and his eyes widened. "Not Shield and Sword!"

"You got it!" Nicola responded with a grin as the Recon and Ninja Squads attack points and defense points got swapped around. "Your monsters don't look that intimidating now, so why don't I introduce you to an intimidating monster?" Nicola asked as she played a card. "I tribute Garnet Dolphin to summon Crystal Beast – Rhodizite Rhino!" Nicola announced as she played the card and the dolphin disappeared only to be replaced by the amber colored rhino (6/2500/1200). "This triggers my deck master's ability! When I normal summon a Crystal Beast Monster, I can special summon another one from my deck, only downside is that the monster will go straight to my Spell/Trap Card Zone at the end of my turn, I summon one of my spare Crystal Beast – Sapphire Pegasus' from my deck." Nicola added as the beautiful Pegasus appeared on the field. "I'll save you some math, you have 4300 points of damage coming your way." Nicola added once she had added a monster to her backrow and saw the goblins trying to do math of their fingers and toes. "Rhodizite Rhino, Sapphire Pegasus, attack!"

"Oh, this is going to suck!" The leader gulped as the two monsters charged towards his goblins and destroyed them both bringing his life-points down to 3700.

"Just one more battle phase from me and your through, and since Rhodizite Rhino just destroyed a monster whilst I have creatures in my backrow, he destroys a face-up trap card of yours." Nicola added as Final Attack Orders shattered. "It's your move!" Nicola added and the leader nervously drew his card.

"Don't worry guys, we can still win this." The leader commented as he played a card. "And it starts with Dark Hole!" The leader added and Nicola's eyes widened as the dark hole opened in the sky above the field sucking in her monsters.

"_I'm so glad I didn't summon my Deck Master just now!" _Nicola thought as the goblins marched onto the field. "I'm guessing your summoning yourselves?"

"Exactly! And I equip us with Megamorph to double our power!" The leader added as he and the other goblins doubled in size and power. "And now, we attack!"

"_I'm definitely going to feel this once the session ends!" _Nicola thought with a wince as the goblins charged and attacked her bringing her life-points down to 1200. "You realize that now you've attacked me and my life-points are lower than yours, that your attack power gets cut in half, right?" Nicola asked and the goblins eyes widened when they realized this as their attack points dropped to 1150. "Thought so, unless you have a way to get rid of it, the duels mine."

"I end my turn." The lead goblin responded in a panicked state and Nicola drew her card.

"In that case, I'll end this with a clash of deck masters." Nicola responded as she nodded towards Sapphire Pegasus who walked onto the field. "Finish them off Sapphire Pegasus!" Nicola commanded and the goblins started running away, however Sapphire Pegasus caught up with the leader before kicking him in the rear. "I guess that means I won." Nicola commented as she watched the Goblin Attack Squad run away off into the distance.

"A win's a win, and you did great." Phil assured her as a ping emerged from her duel disk. "And look at that, you defeated a boss!"

"I hope the next boss isn't as headache inducing." Nicola admitted with a grin but before they could do anything else the word dissolved around them. "This isn't anything to do with what happened before the duel is it?"

"The session has ended." A computerized voice rang out and Nicola breathed a sigh of relief as they were engulfed in a bright light.

*back in the real world*

One by one the pods opened, and each competing duelist emerged from their respective pods, in some cases like with Chloe and Lance and Andreas and Nicola the boyfriends helped their girlfriends out of the pods but once they were all out Sophia gathered them all in a meeting.

"Congratulations on a successful first session everyone." Sophia congratulated the room and the crowd cheered. "No destiny orbs yet but I'm sure they'll come soon enough, now before we break for dinner, I want to address some issues that have been reported to me." Sophia added before clearing her throat. "Yes, the content is very mature at times, as this tournament is eighteen or older I aimed to make the content as mature as possible but I know a lot of you are uncomfortable with that, there are other content issues that came up but those are more personal issues and I will address them with their respective parties in my office after dinner."

"_Wonder if that means me and Amanda?" _Chloe wondered as she glanced over at Lance who she was standing next to hand in hand. _"If it does, at least I don't have to worry about explaining it myself."_

"The other thing that came up was a rule violation." Sophia explained causing murmurs among the crowd. "However, I never got a chance to explain this rule, so the violation strike has been lifted on the party involved, I won't call her out, but she knows who she is." Sophia added and Nicola lowered her head. "In the interest of fairness, I put in a Deck Master level rule, what this means is that your deck master must be of the same level or lower than the opponent because otherwise the duels would end too quickly, as I said the first violator of this rule has had her strike lifted but don't think I'll be that lenient again, now I don't know about you but I'm starving and I flew in some of the best chefs in the world for this tournament, not to mention the fact that I provided them with the best produce I could get."

"_Sophia will likely address the situation with Ariana in private." _Andreas thought before hearing an unusual accent, it sounded like a Greek woman's voice, but it had a hint of Iranian and American in it as well making it hard to decipher at times. _"Where is that voice coming from?" _Andreas thought before locating the source, the young woman was attractive and too the untrained eye, she would've been mistaken for Greek with raven black hair that went down to her lower back and brown eyes who was wearing a beige crop top with a shoulder strap that she slid down her shoulder, jean shorts and boots.

But it was what she was saying that caught his ear. "Can't believe I lost my first duel that way." She muttered under her breath as Andreas neared her. "I'll get my revenge on Andreas eventually."

"Ariana Sommers, I presume?" Andreas asked and Ariana froze before turning around. "You owe me an explanation."

"Your right, I do." Ariana admitted as Nicola caught up with her boyfriend. "I think I owe Sophia an explanation first however."

"You are right about that." Andreas nodded before folding his arms. "But there's nothing stopping us from having a chat over dinner, is there?"

"If your girlfriend doesn't object, I'm all for it." Ariana responded and Andreas turned to Nicola, once Nicola saw the look in Andreas's eyes, she realized how serious it was and shook her head. "We'd better hurry if we want to grab a table for three."

"Indeed." Andreas nodded before he followed the Greek-Iranian woman to the cafeteria. _"She was so nasty in game yet perfectly polite out of game? Something's wrong here." _Andreas thought as he walked off with the three women.


	15. Food for Thought

Sophia was sitting alone at the back of the dining hall, which had been turned into a pop up restaurant for the duration of the tournament, and had just ate her appetizer (a Herb Salad) before her phone went off, seeing that it was the technician she went out onto the balcony before answering it.

"I can't even eat without being interrupted by you." Sophia sighed as she answered the phone. "Did your background check on Ariana bring up anything?"

"No, nothing that brings up any red flags anyway." The technician responded as Sophia leaned on the balcony. "But I did find something, it could be a coincidence but Ariana's main sponsor, the one who recommended her for the tournament? It's Claudio's company."

"Seriously?!" Sophia asked with a look of disbelief on her face before running her free hand down it. "Claudio's company is one of the biggest sponsors in North America, it's the whole reason he's on the Duel Monsters Tournament Committee in the first place, why are they sponsoring a young, relatively unknown duelist who's only tournament to date was a regional?"

"I found it odd too, I reached out to some friends who work there but they were just as surprised as I was." The technician responded and Sophia sighed. "You want me to start digging deeper into Ariana."

"I doubt we'll find anything, the more I look into this, the more she looks like a pawn on Claudio's chessboard." Sophia responded as she stood up. "I would ask him myself but after he tried to come onto me and blackmail me, I'm not inclined to believe a word he says, I'll get Jade to do some digging in between sessions, she's one of the best hackers I know."

"Understood, I'll let you know if anything goes wrong before the start of the next session." The technician responded before hanging up and Sophia ran a hand down her face before leaning on the balcony again with her head down.

"_God, I should've just celebrated the 40__th__ anniversary with a montage video or something, at least that would have brought on less headaches!" _Sophia thought before she heard footsteps behind her but didn't look up. _"At least it can't get any worse."_

"My, my, what a magnificent view." Claudio's voice rang out and Sophia looked up seeing Claudio blatantly checking out her ass. "And I'm not talking about the scenery."

"Don't you have someone else to annoy, Claudio?" Sophia asked as she span around with a frown on her face. "I know you were a last minute addition but here's a hint, it doesn't matter how rich you are, sexually harassing the organizer of the tournament your competing in is not a good idea."

"You act like I'm the only straight male who's ever turned his head whenever you walked by." Claudio scoffed and Sophia shook her head.

"True that may be, they are usually smart enough to be subtle about it, you? Your about as subtle as a Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon summoned by Seto Kaiba after drinking a six pack of red bull in one go." Sophia responded as she walked up to Claudio. "That said, you can answer me one thing, Ariana Sommers, your company is her main sponsor yet her only credit is the Pennsylvania Regional Championships, which she lost."

"Yes, in the finals against the defending champion, have you seen the footage?" Claudio asked and Sophia shook her head.

"I was in the game world when I was alerted to her activities in it, and even then? I'm too busy keeping this ship afloat." Sophia responded as she glared at the taller man. "And it's not the first time you've lied Claudio, your company's never been so generous as to sponsor a random rookie on a whim."

"Perhaps your paranoid Sophia, looking for conspiracies everywhere." Claudio responded before he turned around. "And I believe your Rack of Lamb is getting cold."

"I ordered the Seafood Tortellini for my entrée, I'll have you know, and I can see my table from here, it hasn't arrived yet." Sophia called out to him, but Claudio ignored her. _"I don't care what your up too Claudio." _Sophia thought as she returned to her table to wait for her food. _"I will bring you down."_

*elsewhere in the dining room*

The walk to the dining room was mostly spent in silence aside from Andreas bringing Nicola up to speed on the confrontation but his group and Ariana's group, eventually the trio found a table for three in the far corner of the restaurant and sat down with Ariana on one side and Andreas and Nicola on the other side.

"Before we get started." Ariana stated as she made herself comfortable. "If you're having trouble understanding my accent, don't hesitate to ask, I have gotten better at enunciating my words but it's a slow process."

"I come from a German family; I'm used to thick accents." Andreas assured her and Ariana nodded. "That said, I have been wondering where exactly your accent is from."

"And I'm used to that question as well." Ariana sighed as she brushed some hair aside. "Technically, it's Greek as I was born in Athens but my family is off Iranian and Greek descent, as a result my accent picked up a bit of Iranian and after I moved to America it picked up some American as well, I still haven't figured out how to explain it without going into that much detail." Ariana sighed before shaking her head. "We'd better get back to the topic at hand, because otherwise the next session will start, and we'll be back to being enemies."

"Agreed, that and I would like to get some food in me." Andreas nodded in agreement as he glanced at the menus in front of them. "I suppose it would work better if I heard it in your own words."

"Okay, but I'd better warn you, I'm not even sure how I ended up with an evil character myself." Ariana admitted as she shifted her weight. "As I said back in the virtual world, I'm basically a nobody on the American scene, I graduated from North Academy last year and made my pro-league debut a few months later at the Pennsylvania Regionals, I finished in second place and it took the reigning champion to finally defeat my Wight deck but it got the attention of sponsors and before long, I was getting offers."

"Doesn't surprise me, that is an impressive feet for someone who is literally just started." Andreas pointed out and Ariana nodded.

"Yeah, I expected to get into the Top 32 at most but I'm not about to complain." Ariana added before letting out a sigh. "My mom made sure to go over each contract I got, to make sure that there was nothing in them that the companies could use to exploit me but, in the end, it seemed like I finally found the sponsors and agency that was right for me." Ariana added before shaking her head. "The sponsors were competent enough, but the management agency couldn't find a dog at a dog park, they were that incompetent and it was months before I competed in another tournament! To put it in perspective, the Pennsylvania Regionals were back in January."

"Four months ago." Andreas nodded with a frown on his face. "Surely there must've been other tournaments in that time."

"Oh, there was, and the agency were deliberately declining my invitations to compete for some god forsaken reason, I only found out because my mom got suspicious and asked them to send over any mail they had gotten about me since the Pennsylvania Regionals." Ariana added before lowering her head. "The straw that broke the camel's back was an invitation to this year's Battle City, my mother was incensed that they were keeping such a massive opportunity from me and I couldn't fire them quick enough, it was my current management agency that got me in this tournament."

"Did you ever find out why?" Nicola asked and Ariana shook her head.

"Damned if I know, I was pissed that I was declined an opportunity that had been given to students from the Duel Academies ever since you guys competed in the New York tournament, hell I was set to represent North Academy at last year's tournament but I broke my foot literally the day that the students were set to leave." Ariana added before letting out a deep breath. "As far as I see it, this tournament's my ticket to the big time, I didn't enter thinking that I was going to play an evil character but if that's what it takes, then I guess I'll have to be evil."

"You realize this could backfire, yes?" Andreas asked before a waiter came to take their orders, once they ordered their food Andreas continued. "PR is just as important as dueling in this sport, all it would take is a hacker taking the clips of you being evil out of context and leaking it to the press and just like that, your career could be over."

"I am well aware of the risks, but my stepdad always said that you never get anywhere in life without taking a few risks." Ariana responded with a nod as she shifted her weight. "That said, and I know this is going to sound crazy, the Ariana that ordered the murder of that woman, that wasn't me, and I'm not talking about the fact that I changed my hair and eye color for my in game avatar."

"What do you mean?" Andreas asked and Ariana took a deep breath.

"I was in control for the duel we had, but it felt like my actions outside the duel were being controlled by someone else, believe me, I wanted to let that woman go." Ariana said sincerely and Andreas and Nicola shared a look. "I know I sound crazy, but you have to believe me, that wasn't me."

"Any other time I would've called you crazy, but there is precedent for this." Andreas responded with a nod and Ariana let out a sigh of relief. "Namely, the duel Chloe had with Gavin on the boat."

"I missed that unfortunately, sea sickness." Ariana admitted as she shook her head. "But I heard about it from my next door neighbor, as you've probably deduced by now, the Wight deck is my real deck, it saw me through North Academy and the Pennsylvania Regionals and it'll see me through this tournament as well, I wouldn't want my deck to be replaced by some dark deck like Gavin's was."

"Unfortunately, it didn't give Gavin a choice." Andreas responded as he shook his head. "And now that I mention it, I haven't seen him since that duel."

"I have seen him about, but as far as I know, no one's run into him in the Virtual World yet." Ariana responded with a nod before sighing. "Look, I know we didn't start on the right foot, but whilst we're enemies in the game world we can be friends in the real world, right?" Ariana asked as she offered a handshake to both Andreas and Nicola who nodded before accepting it.

"One condition." Andreas said after he broke the handshake. "Next time we duel, you won't bail and take your defeat like a true duelist."

"Yeah, I can't even blame me being controlled on that one." Ariana admitted as she lowered her head. "Pride took over, I didn't want to lose my first duel of the tournament via deck out."

"At least you admit your mistake." Andreas nodded before the food arrived, once they were done Ariana excused herself to use the bathroom and Andreas used the opportunity to turn to Nicola. "What do you make off her?"

"I think she's being honest about everything." Nicola nodded as she turned to her boyfriend. "Besides, we've both been in her shoes in regard to our early careers, I mean, let's face it, your career wasn't that great out the gate."

"Don't remind me." Andreas responded as he shook his head. "If she was telling the truth we'll find out by the time the next session starts."

*a few minutes later in the lady's bathroom*

By now Ariana had done her business and was washing her hands in the sink, which was in front of a mirror, several other female duelists came and went but she paid no attention to them.

"_That got the conversation was Andreas out the way at least." _Ariana thought as she washed her hands not paying attention to the world around her as she did. _"Only thing left is the conversation with Sophia, and that's bound to be a lot more formal." _Ariana thought before briefly glancing up at the mirror.

….and letting out a surprised yelp as she took a step back, instead of her reflection she saw a dark, demonic face glaring back at her and promptly span around, seeing nothing behind her she turned around again and saw her reflection in the mirror. "Are you okay?" Ariana looked up seeing Amanda at the sink next to her having just finished touching up her make-up after already washed and dried her hands. "You look like you've seen a ghost." Amanda added and Ariana hesitated before glancing at the mirror to confirm that her reflection was still there before shaking her head.

"I'm fine, it was a long flight from America plus the fact that it's my first major tournament has my nerves all over the place." Ariana lied and Amanda raised an eyebrow before smiling warmly.

"Don't worry, we've all been there." Amanda assured her and Ariana let out a deep breath before grinning broadly. "I'm sure you'll do great Ms.?"

"Ariana Sommers, before this I came in second at the Pennsylvania Regionals." Ariana introduced herself and Amanda nodded.

"Amanda Cortreau, Canadian National Champion." Amanda introduced herself and Ariana grinned. "Good luck in the tournament." Amanda added before leaving the bathroom.

"You too." Ariana called out to her before nervously glancing over at the mirror again, seeing her reflection put her at ease before she started drying her hands. _"First that voice in the game world and now this?! What the hell is going on?!" _Ariana thought as she finished drying her hands and left the bathroom. _"Doesn't feel right lying to another pro-league duelist like that, especially one with such high a standing, but it was easier than trying to explain the real reason."_

*after dinner*

After everyone had eaten their dinner the duelists were given an hour to let the food go down before they hopped back into the virtual world and whilst that did have a legitimate reason as testing had proven that going into the virtual world after eating was not a good idea it did give Sophia a chance to address two of the problems that had come up in private.

"Are you sure you want to sit in on this Seto?" Sophia asked the KaibaCorp CEO as she glanced over at him, Seto was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed behind Sophia's desk after insisting that he sit on the meetings after Sophia explained the situation to him. "Didn't think you were into romance."

"The situation between Chloe and Amanda is none of my concern." Kaiba responded as he turned to the younger CEO. "What is of my concern is this Ariana woman, we can't have her sabotaging everything we worked so hard to achieve."

"True but based on the information I've gathered so far I doubt Ariana even realizes the damage she's doing." Sophia responded before there was a knock at the door. "Doors open." Sophia called out and one of the security guards opened the door.

"Amanda and Chloe are waiting outside with their spouse's ma'am; Ariana is on her way and should be here by the time your done with Chloe and Amanda." The guard explained and Sophia nodded.

"Excellent job Bernard, send them in." Sophia nodded to the guard who held the door open, the first ones to enter were Chloe and Lance with Adrienne and Amanda right behind them. "You may leave us Bernard."

"I'll knock on the door as soon as Ariana has arrived ma'am." Bernard nodded before closing the door behind him, the four duelists sat down on the chairs Sophia had set up for the meeting and Sophia took a deep breath.

"So, Chloe, Amanda, do you want to explain the situation or should I?" Sophia asked and the two women shared a look. "I don't mind either way but I'm sure we're all eager to get back into the virtual world as soon as possible."

"I'll start, if it's okay with you guys that is." Chloe volunteered and other the other duelists nodded she continued. "When I entered the Virtual World earlier, my quest was one of true love, my first thought was "okay, fine, maybe I'll get paired with Lance or at least a male NPC." Chloe explained before turning to Amanda. "Instead, I got paired with Amanda." Chloe added and almost immediately Lance and Adrienne turned to their respective partners. "And no, we haven't slept with each other."

"We almost did but Ricardo walked in before things could get intimate." Amanda chimed in before shaking her head. "Look, I've been public with my bi-sexuality for the past three years or so, it's not exactly a big deal for me to get paired with another woman but my main concern is how Chloe feels about this going forward, and obviously our respective partners."

"Personally speaking, I don't have a problem with it as long as it stays in the game world." Adrienne explained as the French woman flipped some hair over her shoulder. "And for that matter, we don't know how sex works in the virtual world either."

"Pretty much the same way it works in real life, no fade to blacks here." Sophia explained and Adrienne nodded before Sophia turned to Lance. "What about you?"

"I'm in pretty much the same boat with Adrienne, as long as they don't start having an affair in real life, I'm in all for it, especially if they save the screenshots." Lance responded causing everyone else in the room to face-fault, well aside from Kaiba who merely face-palmed before running a hand down his face. "Oh, like I'm the only one thinking it!"

"I'm not even going to think about humoring that statement with an answer." Sophia grumbled under her breath as she returned to her seat as did the other women in the room. "That just leaves you Chloe, remember, if this questline gets too uncomfortable for you, we can always change it and your level and experience points will remain unchanged."

"If you has asked me that when it was first revealed, I likely would've accepted the offer, no offense Amanda." Chloe responded and Amanda put her hands up as if to say, "none taken". "But now that I've had some time to think on it and since Lance and Adrienne approve of it, I don't see why it shouldn't continue to be honest, hell I thought I was developing feelings for other women back when I was still a duel academy student but nothing came off it and I remained Lance's girlfriend ever since."

"Glad to see that we could handle this like adults, for the most part." Sophia responded as she glanced up at Lance who laughed nervously. "My offer to change the questline was not a one time offer, if you change your mind at any time during the tournament and all parties are in agreement about it, my office door is always open." Sophia added and the four duelists nodded before leaving the office. "That was a lot less painful than I expected."

"Perhaps, but we do have another issue to address." Kaiba responded as he stepped forward. "Have you figured out what you'll do about Ariana yet?"

"Depends on what she tells us during the meeting." Sophia responded before there was another knock at the door. "Doors open." Sophia called out and Bernard opened the door to let Ariana in, her hair was soaking wet and the state of her clothes told Sophia that she had thrown them on at the last minute. "Close the door Bernard." Sophia commanded and Bernard nodded before closing the door behind Ariana who sat down. "Hope my men didn't interrupt anything Ariana."

"I literally just hopped out of the shower when I got the knock." Ariana explained with an annoyed look on her face. "They didn't even give me a chance to dry my hair."

"Don't worry, this meeting won't last long." Sophia assured the teenager before taking a deep breath. "I'll get right to the point, you got an evil questline when you entered the virtual word, those were meant to be reserved for NPCs."

"To be honest, I was just as surprised as you undoubtedly were when I got the questline." Ariana explained as she shifted her weight. "But at the time I just assumed that it was part of the game and rolled with it, I've played a bit of Dungeons and Dragons and I know evil player characters is an option, plus I figured that standing out from the crowd like that would be just what I needed to break into the big time."

"That is true of Dungeons and Dragons but not of my game world, as for breaking into the big time, you should know that you do that through your dueling skills, not stunts like this." Sophia explained and Ariana nodded. "I would've let this slide, but you had your men kill an important NPC for Andreas's questline and frankly, the only reason you're not on the boat back to Domino City and on your way back home is because my technicians can salvage the questline, I saw you chatting with Andreas and Nicola at dinner time so I'm assuming that you've already patched things up with them?"

"Yeah, and I know this next part is going to sound crazy." Ariana added as she fiddled with her hair causing Sophia and Kaiba to raise an eyebrow. "But my actions outside of the duel? That wasn't me."

"What do you mean "that wasn't you"?!" Kaiba demanded as he stepped forward and loomed over the teenager. "Everyone else is in control of their characters in game."

"Like I said, it sounds crazy, but it felt like there was another force controlling me, I wanted to let that woman go but whatever that force was, it ordered my men to kill her instead." Ariana added as she shifted her weight. "And it gets crazier from there if you can believe it, me and my men were hiding out in a cave after escaping from the spring when a voice told me that he would guide me down the right path."

"A voice?" Sophia asked as she started to grow concerned. "Can you describe it?"

"It was dark and demonic, almost like something from a death metal song." Ariana elaborated and the two CEOs shared a look. "And it gets worse, I was in the bathroom during dinner when I saw a demonic face in the mirror, I panicked but when I looked up again it was gone."

"Was anyone else in the women's bathroom when this happened?" Kaiba asked and Ariana nodded.

"Just one person, Amanda Cortreau, she was right next to me touching up on her make-up when I saw the demonic face." Ariana explained and Sophia frowned before nodding. "She asked if I was all right and I lied, saying that it was a combination of the long flight from America and my first major tournament leaving my nerves frazzled." Ariana explained before lowering her head. "I know it doesn't paint me in the best light, but I figured lying was easier than telling her the truth."

"Me and Kaiba will need some time to speak on this." Sophia explained and Ariana nodded. "That just leaves one problem, you bailed on your first duel rather than take your defeat by deck out."

"That was pride more than anything else, I would've happily taken the loss otherwise, but I didn't want to lose my first duel by deck out." Ariana explained and Sophia paused for a moment before getting her duel disk out. "What are you doing?"

"Giving you a chance to prove yourself." Sophia explained earning a confused look from Ariana. "You said you would've taken you first loss otherwise, prove it by taking me on in a duel."

"My duel disk is back in my room, and I still need to dry my hair." Ariana explained and Sophia nodded.

"That's fine, I don't think there's enough room in my office for anything but an old school game with no duel disks." Sophia responded with a nod. "Meet me on the roof in five minutes, that should give you plenty of time to get ready."

"And if I refuse?" Ariana asked and Sophia frowned.

"Then you'll get to explain to your mom how you got disqualified from your first major tournament for being a sore loser." Sophia explained plainly and that was all the motivation Ariana needed to except. "I have no problem with duelists being upset over a loss, it happens to the best of us, what I do have a problem with is duelists bailing on a duel because they don't like the way the duels going and for the sake of this tournament's integrity, I cannot and will not tolerate it."

"I'll be there." Ariana nodded before standing up. "Count on it." Ariana added before she went to leave the room.

"I'll have my men come collect you once I'm ready for you." Sophia added and Ariana paused before turning to the older woman. "You've been honest with me since this meeting started, I appreciate that, but I also appreciate that I'm an intimidating opponent for a duelist on the regional level such as yourself."

"Got it." Ariana nodded before leaving the office and closing the door behind her at which point Sophia turned to Kaiba.

"If your about to ask what I make of her story, any other time I would've brushed it off as her trying to deflect blame." Kaiba explained as he folded his arms. "But we've had a similar incident to this."

"The duel between Chloe and Gavin on the boat." Sophia nodded once she understood what Kaiba was getting at. "I didn't think Marik's spirit had infiltrated the game world already but that doesn't explain the face she saw in the mirror."

"I'll have one of my men question Amanda about the incident in the bathroom, see if she collaborates Ariana's story." Kaiba added as he went to leave the office. "In the meantime, I believe you have a duel to win."

"That has yet to be seen but I do have a duel to prepare for." Sophia nodded before Kaiba left, once she was alone Sophia glanced up at the life size portrait of her stepfather that was on the wall to her left before shaking her head. _"I need to ask father about this, these incidents are becoming to frequent to ignore." _Sophia thought before strapping her duel disk on and leaving the office.

*five minutes later*

Sophia had arrived on the roof of her father's castle first and waited for Ariana to show up, Kaiba was standing to the side of the battlefield that Sophia had chosen which, coincidentally, was the same area he had dueled Yugi at during the original Duelist Kingdom Tournament albeit slightly worn down due to how old the castle was at this point.

"Do yourself a favor Sophia and don't bring up the duel I had against Yugi in this very spot." Kaiba growled at the young woman getting her attention. "That duel is a black eye on an otherwise legendary career as a duelist, in fact the same can be said of the original Duelist Kingdom."

"And yet you approved of my use of Kaibacorp Technology to make this tournament a reality." Sophia responded as she shuffled her deck earning one of Kaiba's patented death glares for the comment. "Don't worry, we won't be coming back up here for the rest of the tournament."

"I should hope so." Kaiba responded before they heard footsteps and saw Ariana coming up the steps having dried her hair and gotten changed into a black sleeveless shirt, blue jeans and boots. "I was beginning to wonder if you were going to show up, didn't need to get changed on our account."

"Side effect of having my hair this long and not having a chance to dry it before a meeting." Ariana explained as she stepped into position opposite Sophia. "My crop top and jean shorts got soaked, figured it would be a lot easier and faster to just change outfits and I got more than enough leering looks from perverts because of my wet top." Ariana added and Sophia nodded before motioning to her waist length hair.

"Been there, done that, got the t-shirt." Sophia responded and Ariana nodded.

"Anyway, is there anything I need to know before we get started?" Ariana asked and Sophia nodded.

"Well, you were trained at North Academy and came in second at the Pennsylvania Regionals, so I doubt I have to explain the rules of the game." Sophia responded as she folded her arms. "But aside from that, this is a non-tournament duel, as such we won't be using the deck master system and win or lose, your standing in the tournament won't be affected and vice versa, also Kaiba's just here to make sure it goes smoothly, is that clear?"

"Crystal." Ariana nodded to confirm that she understood before both women activated their duel disks and drew their opening hands. "How are we deciding who's going first?"

"As the organizer of the tournament, it's only right that I go first." Sophia explained and Ariana nodded prompting Sophia to go over her hand. "I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode." Sophia announced as the three cards appeared on the field. "Your turn Ariana."

"Right." Ariana nodded before she drew her card and looked over her hand. _"Before I left for the tournament, if you had told me that I'd be dueling the CEO of i2 on top of Pegasus's castle, I would've called you crazy." _Ariana thought as she got ready to make her move. _"And that's not even the weirdest part about my say here!"_

"_Soon my child, soon." _The demonic voice rang out, this time from behind Ariana and she glanced over her shoulder, seeing nothing she returned her attention to the duel.

"_After everything that's happened today, I'd rather be losing my mind! At least that could be explained away!" _Ariana thought before playing her cards. "I set two cards facedown and I summon Armageddon Knight!" Ariana announced as she played the cards and the dark knight appeared on the field ready for battle (4/1400/1200). "I don't think I need to explain his effect to the CEO of I2 but when he is summoned, his effect requires me to send one dark type monster from my deck to the graveyard."

"_She plays a Wight Deck off course she has that card in it." _Sophia thought as Ariana searched through her deck and sent a card to the graveyard. _"And if I'm right about this then she'd have sent Skull Servant to the graveyard to get her combo set up."_

"Armageddon Knight, attack her defense monster!" Ariana commanded and the knight charged into battle before slashing at the facedown monster, revealed to be Key Mouse (1/100/100) which was quickly destroyed. "Key Mouse, what a surprise."

"If you know it's effect then I won't bother explaining it." Sophia responded as she started inputting commands into her duel disk. "But for the sake of continuity, when Key Mouse is destroyed by battle and sent to the graveyard, I can add a Level 3 or lower Beast type monster from my deck to my hand." Sophia added and Ariana nodded.

"_Knowing Sophia, that means one thing, a Synchro Summon." _Ariana thought before going over her hand. "Once your deck's shuffled, it'll be your turn."

"Got it." Sophia nodded before she added the monster to her hand, let her deck auto-shuffle and drew her card. _"She probably thought I missed her glancing over her shoulder just now, the voice must be messing with her head again." _Sophia thought with a frown as she glanced at her younger opponent. _"If it weren't for the fact that there is precedent for this, I'd be wondering if there was a history of mental illness in her family." _Sophia thought before looking at her drawn card. "I activate Foolish Burial!"

"Don't bother explaining it, I run it as well." Ariana said bluntly as she folded her arms and Sophia nodded before going through her deck again. "A card like that is valuable in a Wight Deck after all."

"True enough." Sophia nodded in agreement before she sent a card to the graveyard and let her deck auto-shuffle. "Next, I summon Lock Cat!" Sophia announced as she played the card and the small white cat with the golden padlock around her neck appeared on the field (3/1200/1000). "This triggers her effect, bringing back Key Mouse from my graveyard." Sophia added as the small mouse returned to the field. "And finally, since I control two Beast Type Monsters, I can Special Summon Chain Dog from my graveyard."

"Just as I thought." Ariana nodded as the large dog appeared on the field with a growl (4/1600/1100). "This old combo."

"What can I say? Sometimes you can't beat the classics." Sophia responded before pointing at Armageddon Knight. "Chain Dog, attack Armageddon Knight, Lock Cat, Key Mouse, attack her life-points directly!" Sophia commanded and the three beast type monsters leapt into action with Chain Dog taking a bite out of Armageddon Knight's neck bringing Ariana's life-points down to 7800 whilst Lock Cat and Key Mouse got ready to strike her."

"It's like you said, you can't beat the classics! I activate Call of the Haunted to bring back Armageddon Knight!" Ariana announced as her trap card flipped up and the knight returned to the field. "Triggering his effect again and blocking your weaker monsters from attacking me."

"Clever." Sophia nodded as Ariana sent her monster to the graveyard before her own trap card flipped up. "But I'm one step ahead of you! I activate Urgent Tuning which I use to tune my three monsters together!" Sophia announced and Ariana's eyes widened as the three monsters leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon. "I Synchro Summon Lightning Tricorn!" Sophia announced as she played the card and the large, tricorned unicorn appeared on the field once the flash faded (8/2800/2000). "Not quite the result I was hoping for, was hoping to attack your life-points three times with this combo."

"Yeah, well, we don't always get what we want!" Ariana responded as her trap card flipped up. "I activate Bottomless Trap Hole! Say goodbye to your Tricorn!" Ariana added and Sophia's eyes widened as the pit opened up beneath Lightning Tricorn and it fell in. "I may have only been a pro-duelist for a year Sophia, but I was top of my graduating class!" Ariana added with a grin as she motioned to her field. "And thanks to me baiting out your Synchro Summon, you have nothing to defend yourself with."

"_She's half right, I still have my other facedown card." _Sophia thought as she glanced towards her facedown card. _"Better hope that she doesn't draw Mystical Space Typhoon." _Sophia thought before turning to her younger opponent. "It's your move." Sophia added and Ariana drew her card.

And as Ariana did, she felt a sharp stinging pain in her head nearly making her drop her cards for a moment. "What the hell?!" Ariana cussed as she regained her composure.

"Are you okay?" Sophia asked and Ariana nodded.

"For some reason, I just got a sharp stinging pain in my head." Ariana complained as she gripped her head in pain and Sophia shared a look with Kaiba. "I'm still able to continue the duel."

"Kaiba, didn't Gavin say that he felt a sharp, stinging pain in his head right before he got possessed?" Sophia whispered into her earpiece and Kaiba nodded.

"He did, we'd better call it off before…." Kaiba never finished his sentence as Ariana let out a blood curdling scream as she was consumed by a dark light. "Shit!"

"Ariana, speak to me." Sophia called out to her opponent as the light disappeared from around her and she collapsed to her hands and knees taking several deep breaths. "You can fight him, I know….."

"Ariana isn't here." The same voice that had possessed Gavin on the boat came out of Ariana's mouth as she stood up her duel disk having been replaced with the jet black version Gavin had used. "I may be forced to use this weakling's deck but anything to get the job done."

"Let her go." Sophia demanded as she glared at Ariana's possessed form and the spirit laughed.

"Why would I? The mentally ill are always so easy to manipulate." The spirit responded and that gave Sophia and Kaiba pause.

"Mentally ill?" Sophia echoed before she turned to Kaiba. "Kaiba, you saw the profiles I compiled on the duelists, do you remember any mention of Ariana suffering from a mental illness?"

"I'll double check after the duel, but I don't remember any mention of it." Kaiba responded as he shook his head. "But for all we know, it might be something that's gone undiagnosed."

"Now to proceed with my turn!" The spirit added before going over Ariana's hand. "Yes, this will do nicely! I activate my own Foolish Burial!" The possessed Ariana announced as she played the card before she searched through her deck, once she had sent the card to the graveyard and let her deck auto-shuffle the possessed Ariana played a card. "Now I play the King of Skull Servants!" Ariana announced through the spirits voice as the Skull Servant King appeared on the field (1/?/0).

"And if I'm right about Ariana's last two turns…..." Sophia trailed off as King of Skull Servants' attack increased to 3000 through it's effect. "Just as I thought."

"I'm afraid you have bigger problems! I activate her trap card Skull Servant Burial!" The spirit announced as the trap card flipped up depicting a mass grave of Skull Servants. "As I have summoned a monster with Skull Servant in its name, all other monsters with the exact same original name go from my deck to the graveyard."

"_I remember that trap card well from play testing." _Sophia thought as Ariana sent two more monsters to the graveyard increasing the King's attack points to 5000. _"The original text read that any monster with the same name, given the main gimmick of the Wight Monsters I'm still surprised that that original version made it as far as it did."_

"King of Skull Servants, attack her life-points directly!" The spirit commanded and the king lunged forward before slashing her with its claws bringing Sophia's life-points down to 3000. "Armageddon Knight, it's your turn." The spirit commanded and the knight lunged forward again…

"He'll have to wait his turn! I activate Battle Instinct!" Sophia announced as her trap card flipped up. "As you are about to attack my life-points this will allow me to Special Summon one Level 4 or lower Beast Type Monster from my hand, I chose Barrier Rat!" Sophia announced as she played the card and the small rat appeared on the field in defense mode (3/0/0). "You can try to get through his defenses this turn but you'll fair, Barrier Rat can survive one attack per turn."

"But can you?" Ariana asked mockingly through the spirit's voice and Sophia frowned.

"_Chloe drove the spirit out of Gavin by defeating him in a duel, I don't know if the spirit's hold on Ariana is stronger but for Ariana's sake, I have to try." _Sophia thought as she quickly went over her hand. "Is it my turn yet?"

"Go ahead, this won't last long." The Spirit responded and Sophia drew her card.

"_This is hardly ideal I have a Tuner Monster but nothing that can help me get the big guns out." _Sophia thought as she went over her hand. _"But I can defend." _Sophia thought before picking up her drawn card. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

"What happened to the mighty CEO of Industrial Illusions?" The spirit asked mockingly as he used Ariana's body to draw a card. "Oh, that's right, your powerless against true power! I activate Lightning Vortex to vanquish your last line of defense!" The Spirit announced before discarding a card and Sophia shielded herself as lightning struck her monster destroying it. "King of Skull Servants, wipe out the rest of her life-points!" The spirit commanded and the skeleton charged into battle…...

"_Apologies in advance Ariana." _Sophia thought before activating her facedown card. "I activate my Trap Card Dimension Wall! Now you take all the damage I would've taken instead!" Sophia added and Ariana's eyes widened as the king turned around and slashed her across the chest bringing her life-points down to 2800. "I'm not out of this yet."

"You will be soon…." The spirit's taunt was cut off as Ariana suddenly grabbed her head and threw it back "What?!"

"GET OUT OF MY FUCKING HEAD!" Ariana screamed at the top of her lungs and after a few moments she collapsed to her hands and knees and her duel disk back to normal, what she didn't notice was her iPod and a pill bottle sliding out of her jeans pocket. "Sophia, I'm so sorry! Whatever that spirit was, I couldn't fight it until just now."

"Don't be, your hardly its first victim." Sophia assured her and Ariana took several deep breaths before standing back up. "If you want to call off the duel, I'll understand, but we have a lot to talk about."

"If you mean that spirit's comment about my mental health, I know." Ariana responded before closing her eyes and letting out a sad sigh. "It's not the first time it's come up during a tournament, won't be the last either."

"You mean the Pennsylvania Regionals?" Sophia asked and Ariana nodded. "You didn't answer my question about the duel."

"Much as I hate that spirit for taking over my body like that, it did give me the field advantage, then again this was the move I had been building up too." Ariana added before lowering her head. "But I can give you the condensed version of what that spirit was talking about."

"I'm all ears." Sophia responded and Ariana took a deep breath.

"When I was at North Academy, I started having these wild mood swings, happy one minute, angry the next, you get the idea." Ariana explained and Sophia shared a look with Kaiba. "Eventually, it got to the point where I was told that unless I saw a psychologist, I couldn't stay at the academy, teachers there were concerned that I might hurt myself or someone else, I got diagnosed with bi-polar disorder that same summer."

"_I'm definitely having a long discussion with the technicians as to why that was omitted from her profile." _Sophia thought with a frown as Ariana picked up the pill bottle and iPhone. "That pill bottle, is that your medication?"

"Yeah, Olanzapine, it's an antipsychotic medication." Ariana explained before pocketing both items. "I should've been clear about this from the start, but I was worried that the news that someone with shaky mental health would lead to pressure for me to drop out, and if it reached the mainland."

"I think we both know the real question then." Sophia responded as she folded her arms. "Do you want to drop out of the tournament? As you said, your mental health isn't perfect and it's clear that this spirit is making it even worse." Sophia added and Ariana angrily shook her head.

"No, absolutely not, I managed just fine in the Pennsylvania regionals and after that I got screwed out of so many opportunities by an incompetent management company, as far as I see it, this tournament is my ticket to the big time." Ariana responded earning a confused look from Sophia. "My first management company intentionally kept invitations to major tournaments from me, including this year's Battle City."

"What management company?" Kaiba asked as his eyes narrowed and Ariana thought for a minute.

"CC management Inc., I dumped them the moment I realized that they were screwing me over." Ariana explained and too her surprise Sophia deactivated her duel disk. "What are you doing?"

"I've heard enough." Sophia responded as the holograms disappeared and she walked up to Ariana. "You're absolutely certain that you don't want to drop out?" Sophia asked and Ariana nodded. "One condition, you check in with me daily and assure me that you've been taking your medication, it's not that I don't trust you Ariana, but I've heard enough horror stories about people with your condition going off their medication."

"Yeah, off course." Ariana nodded before frowning. "What about my in game character? I definitely don't want to play an evil character again."

"A fresh start is possible, you class will remain the same, but you won't be playing the same character, and like the first time, your starting location will be randomized." Sophia explained and Ariana nodded without hesitation. "We're done here, how often do you have to take your medication?"

"Twice a day, I took my first one just before the first session started, not that it helped much in game." Ariana explained and Sophia nodded in understanding. "I still have three hours to go before I have to take it again, give or take however long that duel took off course."

"Off course, the next session should end by then." Sophia nodded and Ariana grinned before she started heading down the steps. "Ariana, can I see your phone for a second?"

"Sure, I guess." Ariana responded before passing Sophia her phone, Sophia did some stuff on the phone before passing it back to her. "SPegasus at I2 dot org?"

"That's my work e-mail address, in case any meetings come up." Sophia explained and Ariana nodded before walking off, once Ariana was long gone Sophia ran a hand down her face. "I'm having a long discussion with the technician in charge of compiling profiles when I return to my office, I do not appreciate being blind-sided by something like that!"

"We have bigger problems." Kaiba responded as he walked up to Sophia. "You learned that Claudio's company is sponsoring her earlier, and now we learn that she was briefly managed by his management company?"

"Management companies require that the duelists they manage provide a comprehensive medical background, in case anything comes up whilst that duelist was abroad, and they needed to know what to do." Sophia nodded once she understood what he meant. "Meaning Claudio knows she's bi-polar as did the spirit, whilst I definitely believe that the way they screwed her over needs investigating, if Claudio's working with the spirit then we need to disqualify him from the tournament."

"And we won't be able to do that without evidence." Kaiba nodded as he started walking down the stairs. "Have your hacker do some digging before the next session, anything she finds out that's relevant to the tournament, the spirit and Ariana, you report to me and me alone."

"Right, in the meantime, I'd better make sure everything's in place for the next session." Sophia responded before she followed Kaiba down the stairs. _"Claudio has a lot to answer for, but we need evidence first, but when we do." _Sophia thought before clenching a fist. _"He will pay!"_


	16. On the Day of my Daughter's Wedding

Twenty minutes had passed since Ariana's duel against Sophia on the castle rooftop and Ariana had opted to remain in her room until the second session started, however Sophia was not happy about the revelations made during the duel's closing moments to say the least.

"Sophia, you have to believe me, I'm just as surprised about this as you were." Robert asserted over Skype as Sophia had called him to confront him about the missing information. "If I had known that Ms. Sommers was bi-polar I certainly would've included that in the report, but it wasn't public knowledge like Nicola's autism."

"But instead I had to find out the hard way and now I'm basically stuck babysitting her, frankly, you're lucky that she's turned out to be as likeable as she has." Sophia responded with an annoyed sigh. "What if she went off her medication at any point and physically attacked someone? The resulting lawsuit could've brought me down Robert and Ariana would've been blacklisted from the pro-leagues for the rest of her life, I understand there is a lot of stigma attached to Bi-Polar Disorder but Nicola's been a strong advocate for people with her condition, if Ariana's career goes well, she can do the same for people with Bi-Polar Disorder." Sophia added as she ran a hand down her face. "How about we start with why this information was never included, I'm assuming that she kept any medical information off her Social Media Accounts?"

"Right, and anything that is medical related is extremely vague, likely for privacy reasons." Robert nodded in response and Sophia sighed. "I tried looking up her medical records but as you know, they are locked behind Doctor-Patient Confidentiality, if I had been discovered…"

"The resulting shitstorm would've made the Orichalcos saga look pleasant by comparison." Sophia nodded as the implications set in. "It doesn't matter, she was honest enough to be open about her diagnosis and hopefully, it won't come up for the rest of the tournament, if Ariana wants to go public with it, it should be her decision alone."

"Rest assured, I have updated her profile with the pertinent information." Robert responded and Sophia nodded.

"Make sure that doesn't leak to the public, the poor girls had enough trouble as it is and as I said, if she wants to go public, it shouldn't be because the media found out about it." Sophia responded before there was a knock at the door. "I have to go but don't leave anything to chance, make sure that every profile is up to date." Sophia added and Robert nodded before she hung up. "Doors open and I could really use some coffee right now." Sophia sighed before the door opened and Kaiba stepped in carrying several sheets of paper under his arm before closing it behind him. "Please tell me you've got some good news?"

"I'd be lying if I said it was all good news, but I at least have some more information as it relates to Ariana and Claudio." Kaiba responded before he sat down. "My men managed to track down Amanda, she confirmed that Ariana was spooked by something in the women's bathroom, but the only thing Amanda saw was Ariana's reflection, which was likely what alerted her to her state of panic."

"I want to say that I'm surprised by that, but I can't." Sophia sighed as she shook her head. "What else?"

"I looked into Claudio's management company and Ariana was not an isolated incident." Kaiba responded before putting the paper on the desk showing the type of profiles a management company like Claudio's would keep on their duelists, pictures and all. "See any shared traits among them?"

"All in their late teens/early twenties, most of them are North Academy graduates with a few from South and East Academy." Sophia responded as she looked at the profiles. "Only difference is there isn't any mention of any mental health issues among them, either Ariana was the first duelist managed by his company to have the mental health issues or…."

"Or they are deliberately hiding them." Kaiba responded before pushing Ariana's profile forward. "I checked it as many times as I could, there is no mention of Ariana having Bi-Polar disorder or any other mental health issues."

"And what reason would Ariana have to lie about the state of her mental health after the spirit outed her?" Sophia asked rhetorically as she looked at the profile. "Did you get in contact with the other duelists?"

"One of my men did, they all collaborate Ariana's story." Kaiba nodded as he leaned back. "Thankfully they haven't let the bad experience stop them from having some success in their parts of the world."

"Good to know." Sophia responded before she eyed another profile. "Rodney Flannigan? He was the duelist who challenged Chelsea Cunningham for the Illinois Regional Championship at this year's finals."

"Yes, he was also the last duelist the company managed before Ariana." Kaiba nodded in response and Sophia glanced up. "He had very little kind words for Claudio's company and said that the only reason he was able to challenge Chelsea for the title was because he switched companies just in time for the qualifying rounds."

"We're missing the bigger picture here." Sophia responded as she shook her head. "What is Claudio's end game here? I wasn't aware that intentionally screwing over your youngest clients was considered good business practice for management companies, they are meant to guide the next generation of duelists after all."

"I don't know but as soon as I find out, you will be the first to know." Kaiba responded with a nod and Sophia messaged her temples in annoyance. "Is everything set for the next round?"

"The pods are working perfectly we just have to wait for everyone's food to go down and we'll be all set." Sophia responded with a nod and Kaiba nodded in approval. "The technicians have everything set up for Ariana's new character, she just has to hop in her pod, and she'll be all set."

"Good, I assume that Andreas has been informed?" Kaiba asked and Sophia nodded without hesitation. "And his questline?"

"Salvaged, and with Ariana starting fresh, we shouldn't have to worry about the same thing happening again." Sophia nodded as she leaned back. "Was it this much a headache when you organized the original Battle City?"

"Back then I only had to deal with Rare Hunters and defeating Yugi, needless to say, you've got it easy compared to me." Kaiba responded before Sophia remembered something.

"After the conversation we had with Ariana I got in contact with her mother asking her to send over photocopies of the invites that where withheld from her." Sophia explained as she shifted her weight. "Both for evidence and to see if we can get her added to any of the tournaments, unfortunately most of them have already passed but I have talked with the Battle City Organizors and she has been added to this year's roster."

"Have you told her the good news?" Kaiba asked and Sophia shook her head.

"Haven't had a chance too due to yelling at the lead technician." Sophia responded with a frown. "But as soon as I can get her alone for a few minutes I'll let her know, even if it's when it's when she checks in with me tomorrow morning, after all the crap she's endured today I bet she'll be glad to have some good news at last."

"If she runs over my feet doing a victory lap, I will make my voice heard." Kaiba said dryly and Sophia did a double take.

"Oh my god, are you developing a sense of humor that doesn't involve humiliating someone after all these years?" Sophia asked mockingly and Kaiba growled. "I would tell father, but he might have a heart attack."

"Save the jokes for when you duel Sophia, we have more serious things to attend too." Kaiba added before he stood up and went to leave the room. "I'm going to do my research into your revamped deck master system, find out the best possible strategies for my deck."

"Good idea, and if there are any updates at all, keep me informed." Sophia nodded as Kaiba left the room._ "I don't really drink that much, not since that one time I snuck into father's wine cellar."_ Sophia thought as Kaiba closed the door behind him. _"That said, if anything else goes wrong I might be driven to drink!"_

*elsewhere in the castle*

Ariana had settled into her room in the castle by this point and whilst her throat was sore from all the screaming, she had done during the duel against Sophia on the roof, that didn't mean she was about to take it easy, especially knowing that the next session would be starting soon.

_"God, I just wanted to advance my career as a duelist using this tournament."_ Ariana thought as she sat in front of her laptop having just put the outfit she had worn prior to the meeting in the wash, the nineteen year old was going through her Facebook wall but to say that her mind was elsewhere was an understatement. _"But now one of the organizers is effectively babysitting me! At least Sophia gave me a choice as to whether I wanted to remain in the tournament."_ Ariana thought before her train of thought got derailed by a Skype Call which she checked, once she saw who it was Ariana grinned broadly before accepting the call. "Hi mom!"

"Ari, hi, I know you've been gone for a day, but it feels like far longer!" Ariana's mom greeted her daughter by referring to her by her family's nickname for her, her mother's Greek accent was a lot thicker than Ariana's due to having lived in Greece for most of her life though like her daughter she still had a hint of Iranian in her accent. "How goes the tournament?"

"It's going well, I lost my first match but I'm still in it." Ariana explained and her mother nodded in understanding. _"Now I'm lying to mom! But like the lie I told Amanda, it's a lot easier this way."_

"That is good to know." Ariana's mother nodded and Ariana grinned. "I trust that you are taking your medication."

"Definitely, I still have nightmares about that one time I went off it." Ariana sighed as she glanced over at her medication, Olanzapine was just one of the pills she was on to manage her bi-polar disorder but in her hurry to not keep Sophia waiting she had only grabbed that pill bottle. "And I have been eating, I know the doctor said at my last check-up that I was underweight for my height."

"Don't worry too much about that Ariana, it's not like your dangerously underweight." Her mother assured her and Ariana grinned. "How is the food there? Is it as good as my cooking?"

"Yeah, I'm not answering that last question, not getting into that argument again." Ariana responded with a slight laugh before shaking her head. "The food has been excellent mom, Sophia spared no expense in making sure that the stay here in Duelist Kingdom was an enjoyable as possible so….." Ariana trailed off as she thought she heard whispers from behind her but a quick glance over her shoulder confirmed that she was still alone in her room. "Sorry, I thought I heard something, as I was saying, I am being slightly spoiled for choice here."

"I'm glad to hear it, but are you sure you've been taking your medication Ari?" Her mother asked and Ariana groaned. "I know your mental health is a touchy subject, but I am asking you this for your own good."

"I took my medication three times since I arrived in Domino City, twice on the ship to Duelist Kingdom and once before the tournament began." Ariana assured her mother as she held up one of the pill bottles to illustrate her point. "I'm next set to take it in just under three hours, based on what Sophia told me, the next session should end by then." Ariana added before wincing. "Crap, I should've told you…."

"About the incident on the roof?" Her mother asked and Ariana paused before nodding. "Sophia called me asking for copies of the invitations that the company kept from you, I asked why she was interested, and she told me, be safe Ariana, you are my only child."

_"Should've guessed that Sophia and Kaiba would look into what I said."_ Ariana thought before nodding. "I'll try mom but with that spirit roaming about, it'll be easier said than done, did Sophia go into detail about what I've been doing during the tournament?"

"Only that you've been doing well for your experience level." Her mother responded and Ariana resisted the urge to let out a sigh of relief. "Your father and I are proud of you Ariana and don't you forget it, I have to go but I will call again tomorrow."

"Sure, see you tomorrow." Ariana responded before her mother hung up, once the call had ended Ariana threw her head back and let out a sigh of relief._ "It was difficult enough explaining that I was playing an evil character and why to Sophia and Andreas, I don't want to break my mom's heart like that, I'll have to thank Sophia for that next time I see her."_ Ariana thought before glancing at the clock. _"Almost time for the next session, I'd better get going."_ Ariana thought before standing up and leaving her room.

*in the virtual world*

Once the duelists were back in their pods Theresa, Marie and Tyler were back at the back room of the tavern where they had spent most of the session figuring out the robbery.

"I still can't believe I'm going to participate in a robbery." Theresa sighed as she ran a hand down her face. "If mom ever finds out about this, I'm never living it down!"

"Oh yeah, your mom works as a cop, doesn't she?" Marie asked and Theresa nodded.

"She doesn't go out on patrol nowadays, suffered a gunshot wound to her leg about a year after I graduated." Theresa explained as she shook her head. "She survived with her leg intact for the most part, but her leg has never been the same, about a month after she was released from hospital, she was offered a desk job and happily took it, loved the job to much to let something like that stop her." Theresa added with a small smile before shaking her head again. "We're getting off topic, what do we know about this mob boss exactly? And if you start quoting Godfather at me, I'm asking Sophia if she had watched that film lately!"

"I'll make you an offer you can't refuse." Tyler responded in his best Marlon Brando voice, but it wasn't very good. "If Marlon Brando had heard me just now, he'd be turning in his grave, anyway, what we do know is that his daughter's wedding is coming up." Tyler added earning raised eyebrows from both women. "You know, I think you might be onto something with the Godfather comparisons, then again it's not like the Godfather trilogy were the only gangster movies ever made."

"No but they provided the best and worst of the genre in parts II and III." Marie pointed out and her companions quickly agreed with her. "I can get us invites to the wedding, but we'll have to be on our best behavior."

"Says the former Orichalcos Duelist?" Theresa asked with a raised eyebrow and Marie shook her head.

"Hey, those days are so far behind me that it's not even funny!" Marie defended herself as she put her hands up defensively. "I don't see you giving Chloe any crap about the one time she used the Orichalcos."

"One time being the key phrase her, besides, I live in New York, she lives in Domino City, we don't see each other that often outside of Skype Chats and the occasional tournament." Theresa pointed out and Marie dropped the subject. "So, what's the plan? Hope that that my Godfather impressions hold out better than Tyler's?"

"That is an incredibly low bar to set for yourself." Tyler responded as he shook his head. "You have the criminal background, right? What does it say exactly?" Tyler asked and Theresa checked her guide.

"I'm a reformed criminal with ties to the Forreone Family, okay, yeah, Sophia's definitely been watching the Godfather Trilogy!" Theresa commented as a large sweat-drop rolled down her head. "I'm half expecting to see Manny Forreone go down in a hail of Magic Missiles at this rate!"

"Guessing the writers didn't have much time to come up with something more original." Tyler added before shaking his head. "But we can use that, you use your connections to get us into the boss's mansion and we'll take it from there."

"I don't know what's worse." Theresa sighed with a face-palm. "The fact that I, the daughter of a cop with over twenty years of experience on the force, is taking part in a robbery, or the fact that we're taking the "make it up as we go along" approach to said robbery!"

"Not to mention that Tyler's a rich kid and I'm the only one with any kind of criminal record but the only crimes I committed was when I was a kid and were expunged the moment, I hit eighteen." Marie pointed out with a sigh as she ran a hand down her face. "Still not as bad as half of my plans as a member of the Redemption Seekers, now the wedding is tomorrow night so I say we call it a night and see if we can flesh it out in the morning."

"We've been at this for hours I don't really have much faith in our plan." Theresa sighed before letting out a yawn. "But sleep does sound good, you did rent rooms for the night, right Tyler?"

"Right." Tyler nodded before leading the two women out of the room.

*elsewhere in the world*

Following Nicola's defeat of the Goblin Attack Force her group went deeper into the forest in search of the rare beast for Nicola's quest, however as the night went on they decided to set up camp for the night.

"Still can't believe my first opponents were the god damn Goblin Attack Force." Nicola sighed as the Autistic Woman leaned against a tree in a sitting position. Mark was busy starting a campfire whilst Phil set up the tents. "Are you sure that's not more than enough tents Phil?" Nicola asked as she glanced over at the Irish Duelist setting up the fourth tent.

"I talked with Fran over dinner." Phil explained as he finished setting up the tent. "Apparently there are four party members per party so I'm just being prepared."

"That matches up with what I heard from Adrienne." Mark nodded in agreement not noticing the sound of footprints approaching their camp. "Though she was bragging about having Sophia in her group."

"Okay, that's just unfair as…" Nicola never finished her sentence as they heard a twig snap behind them and sprung to their feet ready for battle. "Who goes there?!"

"Relax, I'm after the same thing you are." Ariana's heavily accented voice rang out as she stepped into the clearing, this time she had opted for the Tiefling Race and was dressed casually, her hair matched he natural hair color as well but was a lot shorter. "Assuming we're after a rare beast off course."

"Yeah, we are." Mark responded with a nod as they eased up. "And you are?"

"Ariana Sommers, Nicola's already met me." Ariana introduced herself as she motioned to Nicola who nodded. "It's a long story but I was able to get a fresh start with my character."

"We have time, come and join us." Phil invited the Greek-Iranian woman and Ariana grinned before joining them.

*the next day with Theresa's group*

Theresa's group had gotten a good night's sleep that night though the fact that she would be participating in a robbery was still weighing heavily on Theresa's mind, even so they met up for breakfast in the dining room before heading off to Don Forreone's mansion.

"_I swear if the next part of my quest is lifted from The Naked Gun movies, I'll scream!" _Theresa thought as she, Tyler and Marie approached the mansion grounds disguised as guests who had conveniently declined to attend. _"Then again, something that centered around comedy sounds more like it's up Lance's ally than mine."_

"Name?" A gruff sounding voice broke Theresa's train of thought and she looked up seeing a half orc in fancy clothing, opposite him was a similarly dressed Goliath and it wasn't hard to tell what their roll was.

"Mr. and Mrs. Caruso, and their young daughter." Tyler chimed in earning a funny look from both women.

"Huh, thought you couldn't come." The half-orc commented once he checked the guest list.

"Plans change, you know how it goes." Theresa responded with a shrug and the Half-Orc nodded. _"Thank god he's as dumb as he looks, and that I'm not saying that out loud."_

"You can come in, if your seeing an audience with the don, get in line." The Half-Orc responded as he motioned to the long line behind him. "I'm sure you'll understand that the don is a very busy man."

"We understand, and we have all day." Tyler nodded before they were let through, once they were out of earshot of the bouncers Theresa and Marie gave Tyler a funny look again. "What?"

"Mr. and Mrs. Caruso?" Theresa asked with a raised eyebrow. "I don't know if you've noticed but I recently got engaged to Brandon!"

"And young daughter? Just because I'm five foot nothing in real life and even shorter than that in game doesn't mean i have to play a kid!" Marie protested as well and Tyler laughed nervously. "So, what's the plan exactly?"

"I'll join the que and wait, once I'm ready to be seen too, I'll give you the signal to search for another way in." Theresa whispered before flicking some hair out of her eyes. "Don't screw it up, I don't think we can rake on the mob boss's whole gang."

"I've heard of worse ways to die in D&D." Tyler responded with a shrug before Theresa joined the que.

*later*

The que ended up lasting several in game hours but eventually Theresa found herself at the front of the que with no one behind her, as she approached the two guards that would lead her to the mob boss she gave Tyler and Marie the signal allowing them to start searching for a backway into the mansion.

"Terra?" The guard said apparently recognizing Theresa's character. "Why didn't you tell us you were coming? We would've bumped you up to the front of the line!"

"Wanted to be courteous." Theresa shrugged her shoulders before the other guard gave her a quick pat down. "How is the old man these days?"

"Getting cranky in his old age, trying to set up his daughter to take over the family business but he has three sons who won't be happy about that." The guard responded as the other one finished the pat down and let her through. "You know how it goes."

"Right." Theresa nodded before she entered the mansion. _"Wonder if Sophia faced similar opposition when she took over I2? I know she mentioned having to put up with a board of directors that was very much set in their ways when we first met her during the Orichalcos saga." _Theresa thought as she glanced around the luxurious mansion.

"The boss's room is the last door at the end of the hallway." The guard called out to her and Theresa glanced over her shoulder at them. "Don't try any funny business!"

"You've known me for how long and your still suspicious of me?" Theresa asked whilst doing her best to look hurt by the comments. "What happened to trusting me?"

"Trust can be broken." The guard responded simply and once she realized that she wasn't going to get much else out of them Theresa proceeded to walk down the hallway.

"_Don't I know it." _Theresa thought as she glanced back at the pair who were now talking amongst themselves. _"I don't know how much time I'll be able to buy Tyler and Marie but hopefully it'll be enough!"_

*elsewhere in the mansion*

Whilst Theresa met with the mob boss Tyler and Marie managed to sneak into the mansion by using the servant's quarters, fortunately for them the mob boss happened to employ a female gnome and male human who happened to look just like them, only problem?

"Off course I'm the fucking maid." Marie muttered under her breath as she looked down at her maids' outfit. "If Marcus finds out about this, I'm never hearing the end of it!"

"I think between you and Theresa, Theresa has it worse." Tyler responded as he glanced around the wine cellar that they had used to enter the mansion. "Okay, according to the blueprints we should be able to get close to the vault from those stairs over there."

"Why would he put a vault next to the servant's quarters." Marie wondered as they walked through the wine cellar not realizing that they were being watched. "Has Sophia not played Mafia Domination?"

"That isn't how Mafia works." Tyler responded as he shook his head before the figure that was following them dropped one of the wine bottles and the pair stopped. "If your trying to sneak up on us, you've failed." Tyler called out before a familiar figure stepped out from behind the wine rack.

And Tyler and Marie's jaws practically hit the floor once they recognized him. "You two aren't doing a very good job yourselves." Yugi Moto responded as he greeted them with a nod. "You were openly talking about sneaking into this place."

"Yugi Moto teaming up with Seto Kaiba's stepson." Tyler commented once he overcame his surprise. "If the quests and adventuring parties weren't randomized, I'd be wondering if Sophia did this on purpose."

"Indeed." Yugi chuckled in response before glancing up at the stairway leading out of the cellar. "We'd better get going, there's no telling how long Theresa has brought us."

"Agreed." Tyler npdded before they headed up the stairs.

*meanwhile upstairs*

"_God I'm glad to be out of that meeting!" _Theresa thought as she left the mafia boss's room and closed the door behind her. _"There's only so many Godfather references I can take! I mean, Sophia does know that The Godfather Trilogy aren't the only gangster flicks in existence, right?"_

"_She is a busy woman." _Armed Dragon Level 10, Theresa's duel spirit though he didn't see much play these days due to Theresa retiring the deck she used him in, responded as Theresa shook her head. _"But an opportunity does present itself."_

"_Huh?" _Theresa asked before realizing that the two guards who had greeted her at the door and the two guards who had opened the door for her had left, presumably on break. _"Wasn't expecting Sophia to incorporate lunch breaks into the setting." _Theresa thought before glancing at the door to her left. _"But I'm not about to complain!" _Theresa thought before she tried the door only to realize that it was locked. _"Well, good thing I picked the criminal background!" _Theresa thought before she started picking the lock.

"Skill check active." A Computerized voice rang out before the image of a D20 appeared on Theresa's duel disk. "Make a dexterity check."

"_Less surprising is that Sophia incorporated this from D&D!" _Theresa thought before hitting a button on the duel disk, however when she saw the result her eyes widened. _"And off course, my first roll of the tournament is a natural one!" _"Theresa thought before fumbling with the lockpick and dropping the lock pick on her foot, whilst the armor protected her from any damage (as minor as it would've been) it still made a loud noise.

"Hey, what's that noise?!" The mob boss's voice rang out and before Theresa could do anything else, she heard heavy footsteps heading her way.

"_That must be the guards, meaning I have to scrap the stealthy approach." _Theresa thought before picking up the lockpick, backing up a bit and getting a running start as she charged at the door, thankfully she rolled high enough on the strength check to pass the attempt knocking the door of its hinges and kept running. _"From what I remember of the blue-prints, the vault should be through this door." _Theresa thought before she burst through the door.

And quickly exited the bedroom as the mob boss' half-elf daughter covered up her naked body with the bedsheets whilst screaming bloody murder, her equally naked husband, an elf, was barely awake as it was, and Theresa quickly closed the door. "Can someone check on my daughter!?"

"_This is probably something me and Brandon will laugh about once the tournament is over." _Theresa thought with an annoyed look on her face as she ran through the correct door and kept running. _"Until then, I need to keep running until I find Tyler and Marie!"_

*a few minutes later*

It had taken Theresa several attempts to find the vault but she had managed to lose the guards in the process, mostly by ducking into the kitchen and "borrowing" the chef's outfit from an Assamir cook which she was wearing over her armor.

"_How considerate of Sophia to include an Assamir servant." _Theresa thought as she walked through the hallways leading towards the vault. _"At least I've lost the goon squad."_

"Hey! Where do you think your going?!" A gruff sounding voice rang out and Theresa froze before glancing over her shoulder and seeing several guards behind her. "The kitchen is back that way!" The Half-Orc added as he motioned over his shoulder with his thumb.

"_No way I can defeat all those guys at once." _Theresa thought as she did a quick headcount in her head. _"Need to think of something fast!" _Theresa thought before getting an idea. "The boss's daughter wants some wine to calm the nerves after the intruder burst into her room, I was sent to get it." Theresa explained before the skill check screen came up again and she pressed the button to make a Deception roll. _"Come on big numbers!" _Theresa thought as she glanced down at the screen.

And breathed a sigh of relief when it rolled a Natural Twenty. "Make it quick, Keyleth was in hysterics when I last saw her!" The guard added before he turned around.

"One more thing, it's my first day, do you think you can point me in the right direction?" Theresa asked and the Half-Orc turned to her. _"Don't make me roll again, I doubt I'll get that lucky the second time around."_

"The wine cellar is down that way." The guard responded as he pointed in the direction Theresa was already heading in. "Right next to the vault."

"_Well, that's convenient." _Theresa thought before she opened the door and went on her way, after another twenty minutes she reached the vault which Marie was in the process of breaking into.

And nearly fell over herself when she saw Yugi. "It isn't what it looks like." Yugi said once he realized that they had been caught. "We'll be on our way if you leave us alone."

"Guys, it's me." Theresa whispered in response before ditching the chef's outfit, once the others recognized her, they breathed a sigh of relief. "We'd better hurry though, I managed to alert the guards on my way over by fumbling a lock pick and walking in on the boss's daughter after she had sex with her new husband."

"It's a good thing I'm almost done then." Marie nodded in response as she cracked the vault door, once it was unlocked, she turned to her companions. "I don't know if you've noticed but even in the real world, I'd struggle to get this thing open."

"Say no more." Theresa nodded before she joined Yugi and Tyler in opening the door, even with their combined strength it was a challenge but after a few minutes they had it open. "There!" Theresa called out as she saw a glowing orb of light on a pedestal in the center of the vault surrounded by gold pieces. "I'd bet my upcoming marriage to Brandon that that's a destiny orb!"

"I'd say that's a safe bet." Yugi nodded in agreement before they stepped into the vault. "Don't try to take the gold, even if we were here for that, there's no way we could carry it all."

"Not without a bag of holding." Marie responded as Theresa walked up to the orb. "Which we don't have."

"In Brandon's campaign we didn't get a bag of holding until fifth level." Theresa responded as she glanced over at the shorter woman. "We're starting at first level, so I'm not surprised that we don't have it." Theresa added before she grabbed the destiny orb, after a few seconds it disappeared into her chest and a loud ping emerged from their duel disks. "Destiny Orb found, two hundred XP." Theresa commented with a grin as she turned to the others. "Let's get out of here before…..."

"Not so fast!" The boss' voice rang out and the four duelists turned around seeing him standing in the doorway with his guards and his daughter, who had obviously gotten dressed in a hurry after Theresa walked in on her, behind him. "You come into my mansion on this, the day of my daughter's wedding, and you rob me blind?"

"Sorry but we needed that destiny orb." Theresa responded as she stepped forward. "And we're not leaving without it."

"You're not leaving period." The boss responded before his daughter reached up and whispered into his ear, after a few seconds he nodded before stepping back. "It seems my daughter wants to avenge her humiliation."

"How?" Theresa asked with a skeptical look on her face.

"By dueling you!" Keyleth responded as she pointed to Theresa. "You will pay for interrupting my beauty sleep and my wedding."

"The wedding that took place hours ago?" Theresa asked with a deadpan expression on her face and Keyleth growled. "On one condition, when I win you let us go."

"Fine, you won't win anyway." Keyleth responded as they activated their duel disks and drew their opening hands, seconds later the deck master selection screen showed up. "Say hello to my little friend! My deck master is Baby Dragon!" Keyleth announced as the young orange dragon appeared on the field (3/1200/700).

"_Part of me is tempted to make a crude joke about the first time she had sex with her husband but that would get us in more trouble." _Theresa thought as she went through her choices. _"Plus, I'm relieved that Sophia has at least seen Scarface! Anyway, because of the Deck Master Level Rule I can't choose anything that's above level three, is there anything among them that can help?" _Theresa thought as she went through her choices, one stuck out to her however and she made her choice. "My deck master is Hard Armor!" Theresa announced as a large, living suit of blue armor appeared on the field wielding a red shield and a longsword (3/300/1200).

"About time! And because you made me wait, I'm making the first move!" Keyleth responded before going over her hand. "I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode, your move!" Keyleth announced as she set the three cards and Theresa drew her card.

"_I think its safe to say that she's running a dragon deck, based on that deck master at least." _Theresa thought as she glanced up at Keyleth's side of the field. _"Shouldn't be that hard to beat in any case." _Theresa thought before picking up three cards. "I set two cards facedown and I summon Gaia – Polar Knight!" Theresa announced as she played the cards and the knight in black armor atop a white horse appeared on the field (4/1600/1200). "I'll get to his effect later, Polar Knight, attack her defense monster!" Theresa commanded and the knight charged into battle before skewering Masked Dragon (4/1400/1100) and destroying it. "A Dragon deck, just as I thought!"

"It's about to get worse for you." Keyleth responded before she started inputting commands into her duel disk. "I use Masked Dragon's effect to Special Summon Armed Dragon Level 3!"

"_You have got to be kidding me!" _Theresa thought as the small orange armored dragon appeared on the field (3/1200/900). _"On one hand, it's a good thing I didn't summon my deck master because otherwise, I'd lose the duel in record time but on the other hand, am I really facing a duelist using the Armed Dragon cards?!"_

"I'll get to his effect once you end your turn." Keyleth added breaking Theresa's train of thought in the process as she folded her arms. "So, unless you have anything else you want to do, it's my move."

"_Well, aside from bang my head against the vault door, no." _Theresa thought as her eyes narrowed. "It's your move." Theresa announced and Keyleth drew her card.

"It's my standby phase, meaning I will send my little dragon to the graveyard and Special Summon his older brother!" Keyleth explained before playing the card and Armed Dragon Level 3 started glowing and growing until he reached his level five stage (5/2400/1700). "But why stop there? I activate Level Up!" Keyleth announced as she played the card and it started growing and glowing again until it reached its larger form (7/2800/1000).

"I'm sure your husband told you this before you slept with him, but it's not the size that matters, it how you use it." Theresa responded and whilst Keyleth blushed like a madwoman Theresa face-palmed. _"I was trying to avoid making such a joke! I can't even blame it on hanging around Lance because I hadn't seen him in years before we met up on the boat!"_

"I'll have you know that my husband is well endowed!" Keyleth responded and Theresa shook her head whilst trying not to laugh. "And just for that I activate my dragon's effect, sending one monster from my hand to the graveyard to destroy your knight!" Keyleth added before discarding a monster and the dragon breathed fire at Theresa's knight destroying it. "Armed Dragon Level Seven, attack her life-points directly!" Keyleth commanded and the dragon got ready to breath fire at Theresa.

"I activate my Trap Card Beginning of Heaven…..." Theresa went to activate her trap card but quickly realized that it wasn't responding. "Don't tell me, deck master ability?"

"That's right and Baby Dragon's ability is a static one, meaning I don't have to activate it to gain it's effects! Whenever a level five or higher dragon type monster attacks you directly you can't activate traps in response!" Keyleth added and Theresa's eyes widened before the flames hit her bringing her life-points down to 5200. "And there's more to come!"

"Another thing I'm sure your husband told you! Anyway, since I was so rudely interrupted…" Theresa trailed off as her trap card flipped up. "I activate Beginning of Heaven and Earth! I pick three Warrior Type Monsters, including a Black Luster Soldier or Gaia, the Fierce Knight Monster and reveal them, you have to pick them at random and if you chose either Black Luster Soldier or Gaia, they go to my hand and the rest goes to my graveyard." Theresa explained as the three cards appeared in front of her. "Chose wrong and they all go to my graveyard."

"Fine, it's not like it'll help you anyway, I chose the card in the middle." Keyleth responded as she rolled her eyes and Theresa added the card to her hand before sending the others to the graveyard. "It's your move!"

"But not before I use Call of the Haunted to bring back Polar Knight!" Theresa added as the black knight returned to the field and Theresa drew her card. _"I should be okay as long as she doesn't draw Armed Dragon Level 10, and last I checked there wasn't a method for searching your deck for a level eight or higher dragon, if there was I can think of a few friends who'd add it to their decks in a heartbeat." _Theresa thought before looking at her drawn card and grinning. "I hope you weren't relying on that dragon of yours."

"So what if I am?" Keyleth asked as she folded her arms. "Your knight can destroy it."

"He can't but thanks to Beginning of Heaven and Earth, I have a card that can." Theresa responded before playing the card. "I activate Super Soldier Ritual! I send Beginning Knight from my hand and Polar Knight from my field to Ritual Summon Black Luster Soldier – Super Soldier!" Theresa announced as she played the card and the two monsters vanished into a dark light before the famous soldier appeared on the field ready for battle (8/3000/2500). "I activate Hard Armor's deck master ability!"

"How could that help you?" Keyleth scoffed before Black Luster Soldier's attack points went up to 4600. "What?!"

"By banishing one Warrior Type Monster from my graveyard I can add that monsters attack points to one monster I control for the rest of the turn." Theresa explained as she held up Polar Knight before pocketing the monster. "And thanks to Beginning Knight's effect, he gains the abilities of Black Luster Soldier – Envoy of the Beginning on top of his regular effect, which I'll happily demonstrate right now! Black Luster Soldier – Super Soldier, attack Armed Dragon Level 7!" Theresa commanded and the soldier charged into battle before slashing the dragon destroying it. "On top of the 1800 life-points you've already lost, Super Soldier's effect takes your Dragon's attack points out of your life-points!"

"WHAT?!" Keyleth demanded as her life-points plummeted to 3200. "I won't lose like this!"

"You don't have a choice." Theresa responded before pointing at Keyleth. "Black Luster Soldier – Super Soldier, finish her off!" Theresa commanded and the soldier charged into battle again…...

"Didn't you hear me? I said I won't lose like this!" Keyleth responded before her facedown card flipped up. "I activate Draining Shield! This negates your soldier's second attack and adds his attack points to my total life-points." Keyleth added as the soldier's blade hit an invisible shield bringing Keyleth's life-points back up to 7800. "And to make sure you don't get another chance at that I activate Level Reincarnation! This trap card requires that I banish two monsters whose level matches the level of a Level Monster that was destroyed this turn and brings it back with the effects negated."

"_I think she just set the record for number of times the word "level" has been used in a single sentence." _Theresa thought as Keyleth pocketed Armed Dragon Level 3 and Masked Dragon before Armed Dragon Level Seven returned to the field. _"And my one turn kill is out the window." _Theresa thought before looking at her hand. "I end my turn." Theresa announced and Keyleth drew her card. _"At least I don't have to worry about his effects!"_

"Now your really in trouble!" Keyleth commented with a grin before she played a card. "I tribute Armed Dragon Level 7 to summon my best monster Armed Dragon Level 10!"

"_Shit!" _Theresa thought as the dragon started glowing and growing again until it reached its final form (10/3000/2000). _"Never thought I'd find myself staring down my own Duel Spirit Partner but here I am!"_

"_That is a different Armed Dragon Level 10, otherwise you are correct." _Armed Dragon responded as Keyleth discarded a card. _"And she's activating his effect."_

"_Yep, kinda gathered that!" _Theresa thought with a gulp. "Don't tell me, your dragon's effect!"

"Exactly! I do wish you had more monsters for me to destroy but I'll make do!" Keyleth responded as the dragon breathed fire at Theresa's soldier destroying him. "Any final words?"

"Just a few, since you destroyed Super Soldier via card effect, I can Special Summon Charging Gaia, the Fierce Knight in defense mode!" Theresa announced as she played the card and the legendary knight appeared on the field crouching down (7/2300/2100). "But I get the feeling he won't be around for much longer."

"If you were that smart, why did you break into my father's mansion?" Keyleth asked with a scoff before she discarded the last card in her hand causing her dragon to breathe fire at the knight destroying him. "And your next! Armed Dragon Level 10, attack her life-points directly!" Keyleth commanded and the dragon breathed fire at Theresa bringing her life-points down to 2200. "How the tables have turned, won't be long until I finish you off!"

"_Would make another quip about her husband but I don't want to make her any madder." _Theresa thought as she glanced up at the dragon. "Is it my move?"

"Go ahead, this won't take long." Keyleth announced and Theresa drew her card.

"_Risky because this will just give her more cards to discard." _Theresa thought as she looked at her drawn card. _"But it's a risk I have to take." _Theresa thought before playing the card. "I activate Spellbook inside the Pot! Now we'll both draw three cards!"

"Much obliged!" Keyleth responded before both women drew three cards. "Just three more things to throw away to destroy you! Much like my past husbands!"

"_The disturbing thing about that is? She looks to be the same age as me!" _Theresa thought before looking at her drawn cards. "I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode to end my turn." Theresa announced and Keyleth drew her card.

"May as well get this over and done with! I discard a card…..." Keyleth trailed off as her dragon was ensnared by chains stopping her in her tracks. "What now?!"

"My Fiendish Chain Trap Card." Theresa explained as she held it up. "Negates your monsters' effect and prevents it from attacking!"

"But…but my deck master ability…." Keyleth trailed off as desperation set in.

"Only works when you attack with a dragon, not when you activate his effect." Theresa responded before Keyleth summoned Baby Dragon to the field. "You can't be serious! You have seen my monsters, right?"

"Right now, it's better than nothing! Baby Dragon, attack her defense monster!" Keyleth commanded and the tiny dragon breathed fire at the facedown monster…

"You just defeated yourself! I activate Sekeretsu Armor!" Theresa announced and Keyleth's eyes widened as the armor appeared on Baby Dragon before exploding clearing the field in the process and causing her to lose the duel. "So, are you going to let us go or not?"

"You can go." The mob boss nodded as he glared at the four duelists. "But this isn't over!" The boss added before letting the group go after Theresa got the "boss defeated" message, once they were long gone the mob boss turned to his minions. "Spread the word, I'm putting a bounty on each of their heads!" He demanded and his men nodded before running off. "No one robs me and humiliates my daughter and gets away with it!"


	17. Journey into Darkness

A few hours had passed since the heist and Theresa, Tyler, Marie and Yugi had returned to the tavern where they had planned the heist, obviously without Yugi's involvement.

"I have a few questions if you don't mind me asking them Yugi." Theresa commented as she turned to the legendary duelist once they were back in the backroom. "How did Sophia persuade you to come out of retirement? You haven't competed in a tournament since the Egyptian God Cards were laid to rest with the Millennium Items."

"That's not entirely true, I have done the occasional charity tournament here and there." Yugi responded as he leaned against the wall. "As for your question, I was the first one contacted by Sophia once the preparations reached the final stages, I had my doubts at first, but Sophia can be persuasive."

"We've noticed." Tyler nodded in agreement as Marie poked her head out of the door to talk with someone. "Who else has she persuaded?"

"I'm not at liberty to say, she had me and the others sign a non-disclosure agreement so that the surprise could have the most impact." Yugi explained as he folded his arms. "I can tell you who isn't, she tried to invite Joey Wheeler and Mai Valentine, but Mai is pregnant with Joey's third child, not exactly a good idea to duel whilst pregnant."

"_And knowing Miranda's comments about Mai when we left for the island, that is definitely a good thing." _Tyler thought before Marie turned to them with a look of fear on her face. "Something wrong Marie?"

"We have to get going, now." Marie responded as she motioned to the door. "The mob boss has put a huge bounty on our heads, I don't know what happens when you die in this game and I'm in no hurry to find out."

"Why the rush? We can lay low here and sneak out of the city in the dead of night." Yugi suggested and Marie paused before nodding.

"Yeah, that makes sense." Marie responded before closing the door and propping a chair up against it. "If anyone comes a knocking, we can sneak through that window and come back for our clothes later." Marie added as she pointed to the window next to Yugi. "So Yugi, what's the class you got stuck with?"

"I got the Sorcerer class and my background was already chosen for me." Yugi explained with a nod. "The Legendary Heroes background is exclusive to me and the other duelists Sophia persuaded to come out of retirement, in fact it seems that Sophia and Kaiba are the only ones who came out of retirement to not have that background."

"Did she ever say why?" Tyler asked as he folded his arms. "Doesn't seem in character for Sophia and Kaiba to overlook something like that."

"She didn't say, but as the daughter of Maximillian Pegasus, I suspect that Sophia has her reasons." Yugi responded as he shook his head and Theresa frowned.

"_He might be right, or she and Kaiba could've come up with the idea after they had chosen their classes." _Theresa thought before she heard heavy footsteps from the tavern, Theresa opened the door slightly to get a better luck and quickly closed it. "It's the boss's guards, we need to leave." Theresa added and Yugi nodded before opening the window and holding it open for the others before following them out just as the boss's goons started trying the door.

*elsewhere in the world*

Much like Theresa's group Brandon's group had spent most of the day figuring out just how they planned to help the miners, off course since their activities were legal it was a lot more open, but they had opted to retire for the night right before the session ended.

"Morning Mordak, Chronos." Brandon greeted the two dwarfs after he came down the stairs and saw them at a table and they raised their drinks to him in greeting. _"I want to be surprised that the Dwarfs are drinking already but, well, this is dwarfs we're talking about." _Brandon thought before going up to the bartender. "What's the breakfast special today?"

"Same as yesterday." The human bartender grumbled as he cleaned the glass. "And until we get that mine going, it'll remain the same! We can hardly afford decent produce in this town as it is but after the last mine caved in, this is our last chance!"

"_Things really are bad around here." _Brandon thought as he made himself comfortable on the barstool. "Are things really that bad?"

"Before the last cave in, this was a thriving town." The bartender explained as he continued to clean his glass. "After the cave in? Well, you saw what's the town's like! We were about ready to give up and start fresh elsewhere when the gold mine was stumbled upon! Just our damn luck that it leads to the Underdark!"

"Yeah, about the Underdark, I know it's a vast network of tunnels deep beneath the ground that are filled with all kinds of nasty things and all, but I need more information." Brandon added whilst not noticing the sound of footsteps coming down the stairs. "Like what I can expect down there."

"Mordak and Chronos will be able to give you more info but there are two paths down the mine shaft, one path leads you to gold and riches, the other path leads you to a particularly nasty Drow clan and their nasty bitch of a Matriarch, Chronos's words, not mine, it's the whole reason why you and your companions are being hired on as security!"

"Does Theresa know your flirting with the barman?" Miranda teased Brandon as she walked behind him with Marcus not far behind. "Don't think she'll be so happy about that."

"Theresa?" The barman asked with a raised eyebrow and Brandon chuckled slightly.

"My fiancé, I literally just got engaged to her before I took this job." Brandon responded before turning to Miranda. "I think Theresa will have a bigger problem if I don't come back alive!" Brandon called back to Miranda before she and Marcus sat with Mordak and Chronos, Brandon then turned his attention back to the bartender. "She wants to start planning for the future but until I get some gold in my pockets, that's next to impossible."

"Yeah, I hear ya." The bartender nodded sympathetically before Brandon stood up. "Do this job right and that won't be a problem, for you, Theresa or the town."

"Right." Brandon nodded before joining the others at the table. "Okay, so the bartender gave me some details of what to expect but he also said that you'd have more info."

"We've dealt with the denizens of the Underdark before." Chronos responded as Brandon made himself comfy. "If it's not Drow, it's Duerger, if it's not Duerger, it's a Beholder or something just as nasty, if not more so, Drow are usually easy enough to deal with but this clan? Something is giving the matriarch otherworldly powers and it's cost me a good chunk of my men who went down the wrong path! If their lucky, the Drow just kill them and be done with it! If their unlucky, they get enslaved, if they are really unlucky, they suffer an agonizing death in some sick ritual to appease their goddess."

"Lolth." Brandon nodded in understanding earning a raised eyebrow from the two Dwarfs. "I've read up on the pantheon of the realm, both good and evil."

"I doubt your knowledge will do much good." Mordak grumbled under his breath as he took a swig of beer. "We've lost half our men to that damn clan, unless we can deal with them soon this town's going bankrupt."

"Say no more." Marcus nodded once they got the idea. "What time are we setting out for the mine?"

"After breakfast, sooner we get this done, sooner we can get this town back on it's feet." Mordak responded as he shifted his weight. "A fourth adventurer will be helping us out, she'll meet us there."

"From the sound of things, we need all the help we can get." Miranda nodded in appreciation before glancing at the menu. "But who wants to go fighting Drow on an empty stomach? Let' order breakfast!"

*elsewhere in the world*

By now Ariana had gotten acquainted with her new party members after getting Phil and Mark up to speed on her situation, only really leaving out one detail.

"_Should I tell them that I'm bi-polar?" _Ariana thought as she got her tent packed away ready to continue the journey with Mark, Phil and Nicola. _"Will they think any less of me?"_

"_They are weaklings, dispose of them quickly!" _The voice rang out in her head and Ariana stopped what she was doing for a moment to look around.

Unfortunately for her, she subsequently dropped a tent peg on her foot. "MALAKA!" Ariana cussed as she kicked the offending tent peg away.

"Something wrong?" Mark asked as he and the others looked up from what they were doing, and Ariana shook her head.

"It's nothing, just dropped the damn peg on my foot." Ariana responded as she shook her head. _"I expelled that voice from my head once, I can do it again." _Ariana thought and after a few minutes she finally packed away her tent and turned to the others. "So, where did the beast go?"

"Deeper into the forest." Nicola responded as she walked up to Ariana. "I realize that doesn't narrow things down, but we should find it soon, probably not before the end of the session though."

"Yeah, that seems likely." Ariana responded with a nod as the group started to venture deeper into the forest. "At least I'll be able to take my bi-polar medication before we find it."

"Yeah, maybe…...wait, what?!" Phil asked after a few seconds and Ariana quickly covered her mouth before sighing.

"Damn it, I was hoping that wouldn't come up." Ariana sighed as she ran a hand down her face. "Long story short, I got diagnosed with bi-polar disorder last year, whilst I was still at North Academy, I manage my symptoms through medication and yes, I've been taking them since the tournament began."

"That's nothing to be ashamed off." Mark tried to reassure her, and Ariana sighed. "And if it helps, we haven't been able to tell that anything's wrong with you."

"Yeah, because the damn medication lets me maintain the illusion that I'm just a normal teenage girl." Ariana sighed as she lowered her head. "So far I've only gone off my medication once, and the resulting incident was so bad that I still get nightmares about it."

"If it was that bad, we won't pry, right guys?" Nicola asked as she turned to the male members of the group who nodded without hesitation. "Besides, I've been open about my autism diagnoses."

"No offense Nicola but they're aren't exactly the same thing." Ariana responded as she flipped from hair over her shoulder. "You get to at least lead a normal life without medication, me? I have to stay on medication so I can lead a normal life! I brought so many damn pills with me on this trip that the TSA thought I was a drug smuggler before I explained my situation."

"Let's be honest, if you were a drug smuggler, you probably would've gone down in history as one of the worst ever, not in terms of how many drugs you smuggled but in terms of general incompetence." Phil joked getting a laugh out of Ariana. "And don't worry, we don't think any less of you now that you've been honest with us."

"Thanks, that means a lot." Ariana responded with a grin before they walked off. _"Maybe being open with my diagnoses won't be so bad after all, or maybe they'll just be the exception to the rule."_

*later with Brandon's group*

Brandon's group were now traversing the mines with Mordak and Chronos as their guides, after seemingly walking through the mines forever they reached a crossroads where they stopped.

"Okay, that path leads to riches, that leads to the Drow." Mordak explained as he pointed to both paths one at a time. "My men are mining the gold down there it'll be up to you guys to defeat the Drow and their guardian."

"Guardian?" Marcus asked and Mordak shook his head.

"The portal to the Underdark is guarded by a guardian, far bigger than anything I've ever seen." Mordak responded as he turned to the trio. "We've considering caving it in but we risk caving in the whole mine."

"_I swear if this guardian is Gate Guardian I'll scream." _Brandon thought before he turned to Mordak. "You have any way we can contact you when we're done?"

"Here." Chronos responded before tossing three large black stones at Brandon, Marcus and Miranda. "These are Sending Stones; you can use them to send messages to someone else who holds one." Chronos added as he held up an additional three stones. "they can only be used once a day so use them wisely."

"We'll call you once we're done with the guardian." Brandon responded with a nod before he led Miranda and Marcus down the other path, after a while it transformed from a freshly dug mine to a much older tunnel system. "Looks like we're on the right track."

"I hope so." Miranda nodded as she walked behind Brandon. "So, Marcus, if you don't mind me asking, how was the weight loss for you?"

"Painful but necessary." Marcus responded with a frown on his face. "A few months after graduating from Duel Academy I suddenly stopped breathing whilst having a practice duel against Marie, thankfully the EMTS were able to get my heart beating again but I was told in no uncertain terms that I wouldn't live to see the end of the year if I kept up my life-style, Marie didn't want to have our hard work put to waste so she signed me up to a gym, got me on Weight Watchers, about the only thing she didn't do was serve me nothing but salad for dinner."

"Heh, yeah, I can imagine that getting boring after a while." Miranda chuckled as they walked down the tunnels. "Obviously that worked."

"Yeah and to be honest, I don't want to go back to my old ways." Marcus responded with a nod as they followed Brandon. "I'm a lot happier now than I was back at Duel Academy and when class reunion comes around, I think my old teachers will be in for a surprise."

"And your old classmates that haven't kept up with you." Miranda responded before they bumped into Brandon who had stopped in their tracks. "Are we there Brandon?"

"Yep, and I'm about to scream." Brandon responded and his companions leaned over for a better look, as Brandon had predicted earlier the guardian was indeed Gate Guardian (11/3750/3400). "AHHHHHHHH!"

"Who dares disturb my slumber?!" The deep booming voice of the Gate Guardian echoed out and Brandon stepped forward. "Turn around mortals, only despair awaits beyond my portal!"

"I know, that's why we need to get down there!" Brandon responded before spotting the massive duel disk on Gate Guardian's arm. _"Never thought I'd ever see a duel disk bigger than the Osiris Red, Ra Yellow and Obelisk Blue Dorms combined, and yes, I am counting both genders!" _Brandon thought before he stepped forward. "I challenge you to a duel, I win, you let us go into the portal, I lose, well we keep trying until you let us in!"

"Very well." Gate Guardian responded as they activated their duel disks. "I shall serve as my Deck Master."

"_Well, at least I have a few options to chose from with the Deck Master Level System." _Brandon thought before the database appeared in front of him. "My deck master is Shadowpriestess of Ohm!" Brandon announced as the female spellcaster appeared on the field (4/1700/1600).

"My deck master ability activates." The Gate Guardian announced and before Brandon could object a huge, winding maze sprung out of the ground separating them. "We will compete under Labyrinth Rules."

"Labyrinth Rules? You mean the same rules that were used once in Duelist Kingdom by the Paradox Brothers?" Brandon asked with a confused look on his face. "In that case, maybe my companions should join in, after all, that duel was a tag team duel!"

"I agree to your terms." The guardian responded and Miranda and Marcus stepped forward. "I will continue to serve as my own deck master."

"Fine, my deck master is Maiden with Eyes of Blue!" Miranda announced as the young, blue haired maiden appeared on the field (1/0/0).

"_Oh good, Miranda's using a deck master with no attack points." _Brandon thought sarcastically as he glanced over at Marcus. _"Hopefully Marcus will come out with something better."_

"My deck master in White Stone of Legends!" Marcus announced causing Brandon to face-fault as the egg appeared on the field (1/0/0).

"Is it too late to change my mind?!" Brandon asked as he ran a hand down his face and the Guardian said nothing in response. "I'll take that as a yes!"

"I'll go first." The Guardian responded as he went over his hand. "As I am facing three opponents, my life-point total is tripled." The Gate Guardian added she showed his life-point counter to the trio who nodded to confirm that they understood. "Oh and one more thing." The guardian added as he raised his hand and three pillars of earth shot up bellow Brandon, Miranda and Marcus elevating the three duelists until they were above the maze. "Not much point to this if I'm the only one who can see the action."

"You could've at least warned us!" Brandon protested and the guardian ignored him. _"He is right about this set up, I just hope he's not expecting us to jump down!"_

"I set three cards facedown and I summon Guardian Cultist!" The guardian announced as he played the card and a tall man dressed head to toe in a robe that matched the Gate Guardian's colors appeared on the field (4/1900/1200). "As he is a level four monster, I will move him four spaces into the maze."

"_Now I'm wondering how Synchro and XYZ Monsters will work in this duel." _Brandon thought as the cultist walked into the maze. _"Obviously they weren't a thing during the original Duelist Kingdom, but it is known that Yugi and Joey summoned Black Skull Dragon in their tag team duel against the Paradox Brothers, one way to find out I guess."_

"It's your move." The guardian announced and the trio shared a look.

"Okay, how do you guys want to do this?" Brandon asked his companions as he motioned to the maze. "The last one on three handicap duel that I can remember was Chloe, Lance and Theresa vs. Victor Santiago but that was a few years ago."

"True, I had been wondering that myself." Miranda nodded in response before thinking for a moment. "From what I remember, they took individual turns one after the other, maybe we should do the same?"

"Sounds like a plan to me." Marcus nodded in agreement before motioning to Miranda. "Ladies first."

"And they say courtesy is dead." Miranda chuckled before she drew her card. "I activate Trade In! By discarding one Level 8 Monster from my hand I can draw two cards." Miranda announced as she sent the monster to the graveyard and drew twice. "Now I activate the effect of Neo Kaiser Glider from my hand, by discarding it and one other monster from my hand, I can Special Summon one Normal Type Dragon Monster from my graveyard." Miranda added as a familiar roar echoed through the caverns. "One that needs no introduction."

"How many ways do you have of summoning that dragon?!" Brandon asked with a dumbfounded look on his face as the legendary Blue-Eyes White Dragon appeared on the field with a roar (8/3000/2500). "Also, I think you just scared the minors half to death!"

"Give me a week and I'll have a list, two if you want details." Miranda responded before grinning. "And here's an added bonus for us, when Neo Kaiser Glider is sent to the graveyard this way, I can make all of your monsters lose five hundred attack points until the end of my turn."

"Impressive." The guardian growled as Guardian Cultist's attack points dropped to 1400. "But to destroy my cultist, you'll have to find him in the maze."

"Easy." Miranda grinned before she pointed to her dragon. "Blue Eyes White Dragon, take flight!" Miranda commanded and the dragon tried to fly up only to hit it's head on the ceiling. "Right, forgot how low the ceiling is."

"And you risk causing a cave in that way." Brandon pointed out as he casted a wary eye to the ceiling.

"Not only that but the maze is a no fly zone." The guardian responded and Miranda frowned.

"Well, so much for sending my big bad dragon into your maze." Miranda sighed before she played another card. "Good thing I haven't used my normal summon yet, I summon Enraged Battle Ox!" Miranda announced as she played the card and the angry minotaur appeared on the field with a roar (4/1700/1000). "What better to send into a labyrinth than a minotaur? I send him four steps into the maze and end my turn." Miranda announced and once the minotaur was in the maze Brandon drew his card.

"_Now I'm wondering how direct attacks work in this format, guess there's only one way to find out if the Blue-Eyes White Dragon will protect her life-points from direct attacks if a monster escapes the maze." _Brandon thought before he looked at his drawn card. "I activate Allure of Darkness, by banishing one dark type monster from my hand, this card will allow me to draw two cards." Brandon added before he drew his cards. "This triggers Shadowpriestess of Ohm's deck master ability, when I banish a Dark or Light Type Monster that monsters level comes out of my opponent's life-points!"

"What?!" The guardian bellowed before the priestess fired a beam of dark light as Gate Guardian bringing his life-points down to 21,000. "You have a long way to go."

"I noticed, I summon Gaia, the Polar Knight!" Brandon called out as he played the card and the knight in jet black armor atop a white horse appeared on the field (4/1600/1200). "I set two cards facedown and I end my turn by sending my knight four steps into the maze, but not before the monster I banished returns to the field." Brandon announced as D.D. Scout Plane (3/800/1200) appeared on the field and once the knight had made his way into the maze Marcus drew his card.

"Okay, hold it!" Marcus called out to the Guardian and his companions stopped in their tracks. "How is this "No Fly Zone" rule fair exactly? Brandon has exactly one dragon in his deck that I don't see fitting in here and all but me? My deck's full of dragons!"

"Those are the rules of the labyrinth." The guardian responded as it turned its attention to Marcus. "Follow them."

"That rule doesn't even make any sense!" Marcus pointed out before running a hand down his face. "I hope one of Sophia's technicians is paying attention to this!"

*elsewhere in the world*

By this point Lance's group had taken a quick break from exploring the tomb and trying to find a way out, off course the break was also brought on by the fact that they had just ran from another group of zombies.

"Seriously, how many zombies did you pack into this tomb?" Lance asked as he turned to Sophia. "I don't think any of the Living Dead films had this much zombies in them!"

"Believe me, if we were higher level, we'd be dealing with nastier creatures." Sophia responded before she felt her phone go off. "But as I said before, everyone's starting at level one." Sophia added before she got her phone out. "Sorry guys, I have to take this." Sophia apologized to the group before heading into a nearby HUD area. "Is it bad that I was starting to think that you had forgotten about me?" Sophia asked jokingly as the technician's face appeared on screen.

"Well, you do sign my paychecks so that would be bad form on my part." The technician responded before shaking her head. "I'll make this as quick as I can, one of the duelists in Brandon's questline is complaining about one of the more antiquated rules of the Gate Guardian Duel."

"Don't tell me, the no fly zone rule?" Sophia asked with a sigh and the technician nodded. "And knowing my luck, it's Kaiba that's complaining."

"Not exactly, but it is a duelist who's known for using dragons." The technician responded as she shook her head. "But Seto's daughter is in the duel alongside Brandon and Marcus…."

"Wait, they are doing a handicap duel against that thing?!" Sophia asked as she ran a hand down her face. "For god's sake, unless that thing summons itself to the field and they find a way to destroy it quickly that duel's going to take forever!"

"And there's only two cards in the duel that can destroy it quickly, Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon and Five Headed Dragon." The technician responded and Sophia nodded as she started to get the picture. "Problem is, they both fly, and they would have to traverse the maze."

"Which they can't do due to the antiquated rule." Sophia sighed before running a hand down her face. "How far away is the fourth duelist for that group?"

"She's in the chamber, managed to find a shortcut, but by the time she found them the duel had already started." The technician responded and Sophia sighed as she got the picture. "Replacing Marcus with her would just force the duel to restart."

"And if that happens then the duel will still be going on by the time the third session starts tomorrow morning, not sure how to explain away that." Sophia sighed before deciding. "I won't bother announcing this like I did the Deck Master Level System because it only applies to one duel in a specific area of the game world, but consider the no fly zone rule scrapped, replace it with a rule that states that dragons can only move at half their movement speed in the labyrinth for balance purposes."

"What about any Level Four Dragons?" The technician asked and Sophia shook her head.

"The duel features Miranda Kaiba, she seems to find more ways to summon her father's legendary cards every time I see her duel." Sophia responded as she went to leave. "And be sure to tell them." Sophia added before leaving.

*back at the duel*

Once the technician made her announcement to Marcus, Miranda, Brandon and the Gate Guardian Marcus was satisfied and continued the duel.

"Now that that's been cleared up, I summon Alexandrite Dragon!" Marcus announced as he played the card and the beautiful sapphire dragon appeared on the field with a roar (4/2000/100). "Because of the new rules, I move my dragon two steps into the maze and set two cards facedown to end my turn." Marcus announced as the two set cards appeared on the field and the dragon flew two steps into the maze before the Guardian drew his card.

"I begin by moving Guardian Cultish further into the maze." The guardian announced as his monster moved four steps into the maze. "Now I Special Summon Guardian Golem through its effect." The guardian added as he played the card and a much smaller version of the Gate Guardian appeared on the field though it was still considerably larger than Guardian Cultist (6/2400/2000). "As long as this is Labyrinth themed duel. I can special summon Guardian Golem without tribute."

"_Did Sophia make an archetype based around Labyrinth Duels for this one duel?" _Brandon thought as a massive sweat-drop rolled down the back of his head. _"Because I don't see Labyrinth Duels making a comeback any time soon, for one thing tournaments would last for months on end but more importantly, I don't see this archetype seeing a lot of play outside of this specific duel! Granted the Paradox Bros. Duelist Kingdom decks would get laughed out of any tournament these days, but this isn't much better!"_

"I move my golem six spaces into the maze, and I activate Magical Labyrinth! In the normal game, this would allow me tribute Labyrinth Wall to summon Wall Shadow from my deck, however my deck does not have Wall Shadow in it so instead it'll change the walls of the labyrinth!" The Guardian announced as he played the card and without warning the walls shifted around moving the monsters already inside the maze.

And placing Guardian Cultist and Guardian Golem right next to Enraged Battle ox and Gaia, the Polar Knight respectively. "Okay, if Marcus gets to complain about the no fly zone rule, then I get to complain about this!" Brandon complained as he stared at the maze in disbelief. "You honestly expect us to believe that that wasn't on purpose?!"

"Believe what you want, Guardian Cultist, attack Enraged Battle Ox, Guardian Golem, attack Gaia, the Polar Knight!" The guardian commanded and his two monsters launched their attacks at the two monsters destroying them and bringing Brandon's life-points down to 7200 and Miranda's down to 7800.

"Don't worry guys, as soon as I get my dragon into the maze, those monsters will be toast." Miranda assured them as she went over her hand. _"Destroying Gate Guardian on the other hand will be a problem! His life-points are far to high to whittle down to zero the normal way, so our only hope is that he summons himself to the field, only problem. There's only two monsters in our decks that could destroy them, both are dragons and even with the restricted movement they are at a disadvantage." _Miranda thought as she glanced up at the Guardian. "My turn yet?"

"Take your turn." The guardian responded and Miranda drew her card.

"_At least we won't have to worry about him bringing out anything with infinite attack points, unlike Chloe, Theresa and Lance did against Victor five years ago." _Miranda thought before looking into over her hand. "For starters, I move my dragon four steps into the maze." Miranda announced as the dragon glided four steps into the maze. "Next, I summon The King of D."

"Wait, what?!" Brandon asked as a more regal looking Lord of Dragons appeared on the field ready for battle (4/1200/1100). "How did that name get past quality control? Or Lord of D. for that matter?"

"Why do you think my dad refused to call it anything other than Lord of Dragons?" Miranda asked with a chuckle as she shook her head. "As for the King of D., you know what? For the sake of maturity, I'll take a page out of dad's book, the King of Dragons' name becomes Lord of Dragons as long as it's on the field and when he is normal summoned, I can discard one Spell or Trap Card to add one Flute of Summoning Dragon, Melody of Awakening Dragon or Dragon Revival Rhapsody from my deck to my hand."

"I swear to god if that last card features three Blues Eyes White Dragons parodying the opera scene from the Bohemian Rhapsody music video I'm dropping out of the tournament and going straight home to New York!" Brandon groaned with a facepalm as Miranda discarded a Spell Card and added another Spell Card to her hand. "I'll personally pay for Theresa's trip home once she's done in the tournament if that's what it takes!"

"Don't look at me, I didn't design these cards." Miranda protested before she played a card. "I activate Dragon Revival Rhapsody! As I control a Spellcaster Monster…." Miranda trailed off as she saw Brandon closely examining Dragon Revival Rhapsody's artwork. "Satisfied?"

"I guess." Brandon sighed with a shrug and Miranda nodded.

"Good enough for me, as I was saying, this will allow me to Special Summon two more dragons from my graveyard including a normal type dragon, and before Brandon asks, yes, that does include another Blue-Eyes White Dragon." Miranda added as a second Blue-Eyes White Dragon appeared on the field. "Alongside the Neo Kaiser Glider I discarded earlier." Miranda added as the jet black version of Kaiser Glider appeared on the field with a roar (6/2400/2200). "I move my second Blue Eyes and King of Dragons four spaces into the maze and Neo Kaiser Glider three steps into the maze to end my turn." Miranda announced as her three monsters took their first steps into the maze and Brandon drew his card.

"_I swear, if this group's next duel involves Dungeon Dice Monsters, I'll scream!" _Brandon thought before looking at his drawn card. "By the way, would either of your monsters happen to be Dark Type Monsters?"

"No, they are both Earth Type Monsters." The guardian responded and Brandon frowned. "Why?"

"Well, you just saved yourself a thousand points of damage! I tribute D.D. Scout Plane to summon Caius, the Shadow Monarch!" Brandon announced as he played the card and the scout plane disappeared from the field only to be replaced by the monarch of shadow (6/2400/1200). "And I have a question, how does targeting effects that trigger on the summon of a monster work in the Labyrinth?"

"They trigger as normal." The guardian responded as he folded his arms. "However, you have to find the monster you want to target first, in this case Caius will throw his energy ball down one of three entrances."

"_I'm basically playing Russian Roulette with my monster, brilliant." _Brandon thought as he glanced at the three entrances. _"There's no way Caius's energy blast will get past Miranda's monsters so that narrow things down a bit." _Brandon thought before pointing to the entrance in front of him, Caius threw the energy ball and seconds later a horrified scream emerged from the maze as Guardian Cultist was hit by the blast. "At least my choice didn't go to waste."

"Maybe, but when Guardian Cultist is destroyed or banished, I can search my deck for another monster with the name Guardian in its name." The guardian responded as he started searching through his deck and Brandon frowned.

"_As unlikely as it seems, if he adds Guardian of the Throne Room to his hand I'll laugh." _Brandon thought as the guardian added the card to his deck and let it shuffle. "I send my monarch four steps into the maze and end my turn." Brandon announced as the monarch made his way into the maze and Marcus drew his card.

"_Miranda and Brandon are bringing out their heavy hitters already, I can only hope that I can keep up." _Marcus though as he glanced over at his companions before glancing at his drawn card."I activate Dimension Switch! I use this to banish Alexandrite Dragon for now!" Marcus announced as the dragon vanished from the field. "He won't be gone for long but since I have no monsters on the field and you do, I can Special Summon Vice Dragon with his attack points cut in half!"

"_If Marcus is doing what I think he is, then he's on the right track." _Brandon thought as the ugly purple dragon appeared on the field (5/2000/1000) and its attack points dropped to 1000 thanks to its effect. _"Right now, we need as many heavy hitters as we can get into the maze."_

"And now I sacrifice him to summon Strong Wind Dragon!" Marcus announced as he played the card and Vice Dragon vanished from the field only to be replaced with the large, green dragon (6/2400/1000). "And since I sacrificed Vice Dragon to summon him, Strong Wind Dragon gains a thousand attack points." Marcus added as Strong Wind Dragon's attack went up to 3400. "Finally I activate the second effect of Dimension Switch, destroying it so that Alexandrite Dragon returns to the field." Marcus added as the trap card's hologram shattered and the beautiful dragon returned to the field in it's original position. "I move Alexandrite Dragon two steps into the maze and Strong Wind Dragon three steps into the maze to end my turn."

"Your dragons don't scare me." The guardian responded as Strong Wind Dragon took its first steps into the maze and Alexandrite Dragon moved further into the maze and the guardian drew his card. "None of them do."

"The combined attack power of my dragons is more than enough for a one turn kill in most normal duels." Miranda pointed out as she folded her arms. "Adding the power of Marcus's dragons to that equation would just be redefining overkill, either you're a terrible liar or you have a way to deal with our dragons."

"I'll let my actions speak for themselves." The guardian responded as he stepped onto the field. "I summon myself to the field, now you can attack me if you get close enough but that reason, I'm refusing to step into the maze."

"_Wish he had done that from the beginning, I could've ended this five minutes ago." _Brandon thought as he stared at the massive monster. _"Gate Guardian never got much play in the game outside of Duelist Kingdom because it's so hard to summon but maybe things will be exciting for once!"_

"I attack The King of D. with my water powers." The guardian announced before he launched a jet of water into the maze at The King of D.

"You'll thank me later." Miranda whispered to her compatriots before she activated her trap card. "Sorry but you just ended the duel! I activate Mirror Force!" Miranda announced as her trap card flipped up and a mirror shield appeared in front of Miranda's monsters…

"I activate Guardian Golem's effect, discarding one monster from my hand with the word "Guardian" in it's name to negate the activation of your trap card." The guardian called out as he discarded a card from his hand and the golem charged forwards…..

"Sorry, but I'm getting bored of this duel as well and I'm hoping Sophia patches this duel out of the official release." Brandon responded as he activated his trap card. "I activate Divine Wrath to negate Guardian Golem's effect!" Brandon announced and the guardian flinched as the golem shattered and the attack reflected back at the Gate Guardian destroying it and ending the duel. "Let us never speak of this again." Brandon added as the ping rang out to indicate that they had defeated a boss and they were lowered to the floor.

"Thank god, I was wondering if that duel would ever end." A new female voice rang out and the trio looked up seeing a short, red hired woman emerging from the shadows, her outfit suggested that she had gotten the fighter class and it took Brandon a moment to recognize her.

"Caitlin? Caitlin Acosta?" Brandon asked as he recognized the former Duel Academy student and Caitlin grinned as she was recognized. "I thought you didn't duel much due to complications from your past troubles with anorexia?"

"Yeah, I had to take a year off from the pro-leagues because of that, missed last year's Battle City to boot." Caitlin sighed as she shared a fist bump with her former classmates though they could tell that the subject made her extremely uncomfortable, so they decided to drop it. "I'd rather not get into it but I was eventually given a clean bill of health and I'm back with a vengeance! Even came in second in the California regionals."

"Glad to hear it." Brandon nodded with a grin. "So, did your quest take you deep underground as well?"

"You know it." Caitlin responded as she turned to the portal. "I got here earlier and found a shortcut, was trying to find a way around the Guardian when you guys showed up." Caitlin added before turning to the others. "I'm ready when you are." Caitlin added as they walked towards the portal.

*elsewhere in the world*

"_I am definitely patching that duel out and replacing it with another." _Sophia thought as she watched the end of the duel, Sophia had been watching the duel from a monitor in the HUD area of the tomb and she shook her head. _"I know Yugi described it as one of the most tedious duels he's ever been apart off in his _bioraphy_, but I had no idea it was that bad."_

"_If you think that's bad." _The demonic voice rang out in Sophia's head and she looked around. _"You haven't seen anything yet."_

"_I don't care who that spirit is, he's not ruining my tournament!" _Sophia thought as she started to walk off. _"Hope Ariana's holding out okay, the session went by a lot quicker than the first one so we should be wrapping up soon, and I should use this time to figure out what to do about the spirit, if I can do anything!"_


	18. Bad Memories

It had been a couple of hours since Brandon's group had defeated the Gate Guardian and they, alongside Caitlin, were now on the other side of the portal to the Underdark, the dark, dreary place gave them a foreboding sense even as they stopped after an hour of walking for a rest.

"I don't think I've done that much walking since I was in Osiris Red." Caitlin groaned as she plopped down onto the floor. "By the way, congrats on the engagement Brandon."

"Thanks, I've lost count on how many people have congratulated me since I proposed to Theresa." Brandon admitted sheepishly as he leaned back against the wall. "You keep in contact with Amelia and Dan these days?"

"When I can, Amelia and Dan graduated a year before Chloe's group and they're on the National Circuit, I'd probably be on the National Circuit as well if I hadn't had to take that year off." Caitlin responded with an annoyed huff as she flipped her hair over her shoulder. "I wasn't even allowed to use my duel disk whilst I was recovering, and most people just gave me blank looks when I challenged them to an old fashioned game on my hospital table so I couldn't even get any practice in most of the time."

"Man, I knew it was bad, but I had no idea you were stuck in hospital for a year." Brandon responded and Caitlin shook her head. "If you don't mind me asking, what where the complications?"

"I'm not going to go into detail, but I had been developing kidney problems for a while related to my past troubles with anorexia, initially I was only going into hospital for a week at most, then my kidneys started shutting down." Caitlin added and Brandon's jaw dropped. "Luckily I was able to get a transplant but for a while, it didn't look like I was going to survive the hospital stay, hell most of that year was spent waiting for a kidney and that wasn't fun to say the least, I can't even begin to tell you how happy I was to finally be discharged."

"I can imagine." Brandon nodded with a sympathetic look on his face. "Did Amelia and Dan find out?"

"Let me put it this way, they dropped out of a tournament halfway across the world and flew to San Diago just so they could visit me in hospital when they heard the news." Caitlin responded as she shook her head. "When they told me that I kept saying that I'd find a way to make it up for them and even though they said that I should just focus on getting better, which I did, I still plan to making it up to them if we run into each other at Battle City."

"If you need financial help making it up to them, I'd be happy to help." Brandon offered and Caitlin grinned in response. "Though it doesn't sound like recovery was fun for you."

"You're right, that was not fun, like at all, when I was finally discharged my parents treated me to a meal out at a fancy restaurant." Caitlin responded before blushing a bit. "It's a long story but I ended up dating one of the line cooks not long after that, anyway, Amelia and Dan wanted to take part in the tournament, but they had prior commitments, Dan's sister is getting married as we speak and refused to move the date."

"Well, next time you see them, you can make it up to them with my help." Brandon responded and Caitlin nodded with a grin on her face. "So, what's your class and background?"

"Fighter class and soldier background, I suppose it was the closest thing to a Superhero since I run an Elemental Hero deck." Caitlin shrugged her shoulders in response before they noticed Marcus and Miranda getting up. "We're getting ready to move already?"

"It's the Underdark, we can't afford to stay in one place for too long." Miranda responded before she helped Caitlin up and Brandon got up on his own. "Besides, I spotted a Drow scouting party nearby, don't know about you guys but that seems like a good way to get close to the clan."

"Sounds good to me." Brandon nodded before they walked off.

*elsewhere in the world*

By this point Chelsea's group had moved on and Chelsea still hadn't gotten around to reading her questline, however there was a very good reason for that.

"_I thought I put that shit behind me." _Chelsea thought as she let out a deep breath, much like Nicola in the last session Chelsea was sitting on a hilltop overlooking the landscape but unlike Nicola Chelsea wasn't up there to admire the view. _"But off course, I get paired with the duelist who started it all." _Chelsea thought as she glanced down at Ray who was chatting with Felix. _"Maybe I should've skipped this tournament and just stayed in Woodstock."_

"_Do you harbor any resentment towards him?" _Wattchimera asked and Chelsea shook her head as her Duel Spirit Partner appeared next to her.

"_At the end of the day, Ray was just appearing at the tournament as a favor, I just happened to be the unlucky student who faced him in the opening round." _Chelsea responded as she shifted her weight a bit. _"The same unlucky student who punched his lights out after he made a mockery of my beatdown deck, hell if anything I hold a grudge against his old agent for getting him to press charges against me, and the judge who decided to make an example out of a first time offender and sentence me to two years in juvie!"_

"_You got out early on good behavior, that's the main thing." _Wattchimera reminded her and Chelsea nodded somewhat reluctantly. _"Didn't he say that he fired that agent after the incident?"_

"_It was either him or one of the pro-league duelists who helped us with the Orichalcos, I can't remember which since it was five years ago and all." _Chelsea responded before she heard footsteps coming up the hill and glanced up. "What? Can't a girl be alone in her thoughts?" Chelsea asked as Ray sat next to her.

"You've been alone in your thoughts since we met up." Ray pointed out and Chelsea sweat-dropped with a nervous laugh. "And considering how our first meeting went, you've done well for yourself."

"By "first meeting" do you mean "you thrashing my beatdown deck into obscurity" or "me sucker punching you because I couldn't take a loss to save my life", either way, I will agree with you there." Chelsea admitted after taking a deep breath. "Still mad at your former agent for pressing charges, and the judge for deciding that a first time, and last time, offender should be made an example off."

"Believe it or not, it could've been a lot worse." Ray responded and Chelsea glanced up. "My agent actually wanted to pressure the judge into trying you as an adult."

"Your shitting me?!" Chelsea asked with a look of disbelief on her face and Ray shook his head. "I know you were the Illinois Regional Champ at the time but not even my agent has that much power and I'm the reigning champ!"

"Even if he did have that much power, I don't think the judge would've listened to him." Ray responded as he shook his head. "Like you said, you were a first time offender, not even the harshest judge would've tried you as an adult."

"Unless I was living in the bible belt, I had already come out as gay by that point." Chelsea shrugged her shoulders before frowning. "And that started a running gag of me being expelled from every school my parents enrolled me in, most of it was down to zero tolerance policies frowning on my short temper even after I protested that I was standing up to a bully mind you, but it eventually stopped when I got to Duel Academy, not for lack of trying."

"Hence why I said you've done well for yourself." Ray responded and Chelsea grinned. "Though I am surprised that you didn't try North Academy."

"That was my parents' first choice, it helped that my girlfriend at the time, the girl I was chatting with before you spotted me on the boat, was already planning to enroll there." Chelsea responded before sighing sadly. "And then I found out that North Academy wouldn't take me because of my juvenile conviction, I've never really asked my parents how they managed to get a foreign school to take me on when a school in my home country wouldn't take me but I'm not complaining, aside from me having to end my first gay relationship after a few months because long distance relationships don't work."

"Considering how much good it's done for you since then, I'd say it was good for you in the long run." Ray pointed out with a nod and Chelsea sighed. "That said, the Shock Rock Chick?"

"Wasn't my idea, the PR firm picked that nickname for me because of my Watt deck and because my agent told them that I listen to rock rather than metal." Chelsea responded as she shook her head. "Doesn't help that I still haven't drilled into his head that rock and metal aren't the same genre! But believe it or not it was the lesser of two evils."

"The other nickname couldn't have been that bad, could it?" Ray asked and Chelsea shook her head.

"Auntie Social." Chelsea responded getting a laugh out of Ray. "I wish I was kidding, they picked that nickname for me because I mentioned to my agent that I have a three year old niece! Well, she was one year old at the time, but you know what I mean! Soon as I hit the international scene, I'm kicking them to the curb."

"Trust me, the PR firms get a lot better after you leave the regionals." Ray assured her and Chelsea grinned. "Though I wouldn't mind seeing a pic of your niece."

"After the session's over, otherwise we'll waste more time, besides I couldn't bring my phone into the virtual world with me." Chelsea responded and Ray nodded.

"So, do you know what your quest is?" Ray asked and Chelsea paused.

"Hold on." Chelsea responded before taking out her guide and reading it. "The lone survivor of a Barbarian Tribe will unite the waring tribes and take the kingdom to fulfil her destiny, what is this a Conan the Barbarian rip off? Hope they aren't planning on me starting a bloodline."

"Didn't you say that you were straight once upon a time?" Ray asked and Chelsea nodded.

"And my last boyfriend was such a shitty lover and an abusive asshole that I turned gay before breaking up with him." Chelsea sighed as she thought back to the Orichalcos days. "At least with him being behind bars for his role in the Orichalcos I don't have to worry about running into him in the tournament."

"True, so how do we go about this quest?" Ray asked as Felix walked up to him. "I don't remember there being many tribes around?"

"I don't know but there's one way to find out." Chelsea responded as she stood up and dusted herself off. "Start looking."

"Hey, at this point, I'm just following your leads." Felix shrugged his shoulders in response and Chelsea nodded. "And from what I hear, there's four members to a party, for all we know, your ex-girlfriend will be the fourth member."

"Oh sure, let's make things more awkward for me than they already are!" Chelsea responded sarcastically before shaking her head. "Let's go, we aren't going to make much progress if I stay on this hill for the entire session!" Chelsea added before leading her male companions away from their campsite. _"Then again, at least talking with Kylie will be a hell of a lot less awkward than talking with Ray!"_

*elsewhere in the world*

"Okay, seriously, how deep does this tomb go?" Lance wondered out loud as his group descended yet another set of stairs, some time had passed since Sophia had to take the call and they seemed to be no closer to their end goal. "If we go down any further, I think we'll hit the center of the earth!"

"Don't look at me, I wasn't the one who designed this place." Sophia shrugged her shoulders as she glanced around the empty tomb. "I'm fairly good at technology, good enough to remotely operate the computer in my office at I2 Headquarters from my laptop or tablet when I'm abroad for whatever reason, but building something this complex? I think even Chelsea would struggle with something like that."

"I don't think she'd argue with that, and she was one of the biggest tech geeks of the Orichalcos group." Lance nodded in agreement before Sophia's phone went off. "You of to walk through another wall?"

"Unless it's a major violation, I doubt it." Sophia responded before answering the call. "I'd almost be tempted to leave this thing on silent if I wasn't hosting the tournament."

"Last one of the day, I promise." The technician responded before cleaning her throat. "First, the good news, a groups found their first destiny orb, namely Theresa's group."

"That was one of the easier ones to be fair." Sophia responded as she thought back to the writing process. "What's the bad news?"

"We've had our first elimination." The technician responded and Sophia frowned. "Gavin Freeman lost his first duel, seems the stress of being possessed affected his performance in the tournament."

"A shame but inevitable in the tournament setting, let him know that he is free to remain on the island when he gets out of his pod." Sophia responded as she shook her head. "And my group's getting tired off the tomb already."

"Well, the good news is, your close to your destination." The technician responded and the group breathed a sigh of relief. "Still a ways down but once you guys beat the boss, you'll be all set."

"At this rate, I'm half expecting to face Cerberus at the gates of hell next." Lance muttered under his breath before they continued down the steps,

*a while later, back with Chelsea's group*

"Is it me or do the days seem half as long as they are in real life?" Chelsea wondered as the she led the group through the forests, it was already getting dark and that was making Chelsea wonder. "Because it doesn't feel like a whole day has passed."

"To be fair, you did spend a lot of time on top of that hill." Felix pointed out and Chelsea glanced over her shoulder at him. "But I did notice that towards the end of the last session as well."

"Guess Sophia felt that simulating 24hrs in real time would be too labor intensive on the game's servers." Ray shrugged his shoulders in response as they neared a village. "And considering how many people are competing in this tournament, well, I wouldn't want to see the internet bill when all is said and done."

"This tournament is being run by two billionaires and Maximillian Pegasus is still kicking around somewhere in the castle." Chelsea pointed out with a shrug as they neared the village. "Somehow, I doubt they will be strapped for cash after this tournament."

"Fair point, but at the same time Ray has a point as well." Felix responded before they heard a twig snap as they entered the village. "I swear, if that's another bad guy."

"Says the former Orichalcos duelist?" A gruff voice rang out and the group froze as Kaiba stepped into view. "If you guys are about uniting the tribes, then we are in the same boat."

"Yeah, we are." Chelsea nodded as the trio approached Kaiba. "Any info you have for us?"

"Someone is trying to prevent your prophecy from coming to pass by eliminating the tribes." Kaiba responded as he motioned to the village and now that the trio had a better look, they saw that it was in ruins. "And they are using mercenary armies to do it."

"I've already dealt with one of them." Chelsea nodded as she folded her arms. "An army led by the Battleguard King, if there are others then we had better take them out."

"There is another army camped nearby." Kaiba responded before frowning. "And they must've heard about your success because they've taken your ex hostage."

"Going to assume that your talking about Kylie?" Chelsea asked and Kaiba nodded. "It's never easy is it, what's their demands?"

"None yet but I suggest we hurry to take them out before they get a chance." Kaiba responded and Chelsea quickly nodded on agreement. "The army is being led by the Dark Scorpion Burglars."

"The band of thieves? Doesn't seem like they'd be up for leading an army, but I'll take it." Chelsea nodded before motioning for him to lead the way. "I'm assuming you know where they are camped."

"I've been scouting it for most of the day and I suggest we move." Kaiba responded as he led the group out of the village. "The session will be ending soon."

*later*

The group had approached the encampment and whilst it was clearly getting dark, it was fairly easy to see the encampment thanks to the torches that the group was carrying.

"That's the place?" Chelsea asked Kaiba who nodded without hesitation. "I think I've got a plan, but it needs someone to act as bait, for lack of better term."

"You want one of us to duel the Dark Scorpions, right?" Felix asked and Chelsea nodded. "I'll pass, still stinging from my loss to Brandon at the New York Battle City."

"We'll just ignore the fact that you weren't even a part of that tournament originally." Kaiba responded as he rolled his eyes. "Ray, are you up for the challenge."

"Always." Ray nodded in response before standing up. "So, the plan is I distract the Dark Scorpions with a duel and you guys sneak in and save Kylie?"

"Pretty much." Chelsea responded with a nod before glancing around. "That said, I'm a Barbarian, Kaiba's a Paladin and I'm assuming you're a rogue Felix? Two of the party members aren't exactly known for stealth, that's all I'm saying."

"We'll have to make do; I'll see if I can lure them out." Ray responded before they snuck into the camp.

*inside the camp*

"Any updates?" Don Zaloog asked Manae the Thorn as she entered his tent, the Scorpions and their mercenary force were getting ready to move soon meaning that Chelsea and her group didn't have a lot of time to free Kylie.

"Most of the stuff is packed up, I had to reprimand the boys for planning to have their way with the prisoner again," Manae responded with a frown on her face as she folded her arms. "After all, the king would prefer that his concubines unsullied."

"And if she isn't, then we're not getting paid." Don responded before the tent opened again and Cliff the Trap Remover burst in. "What now?"

"There's an intruder in the camp, man." Cliff responded as he walked up to the older man. "No idea if he's connected to that Assamir Barbarian who defeated Battleguard King yesterday but he's challenging us to a duel."

"Us including Gorg and Chick?" Manae asked to be sure and Cliff nodded. "Where are Chick and Gorg?"

"Waiting for you two." Chick responded and Don and Manae shared a look.

"One guy against the Dark Scorpions?" Manae scoffed as Don grabbed his duel disks. "This will be easy."

"Don't be so sure, one Halfling Druid managed to take out the Goblin Attack Force on her own and they are stronger than us." Don responded as he put his duel disk on. "They are goofy sons of bitches, but they are stronger than us, don't let your guard down." Don added before they left the tent.

*a few minutes later*

"Ahh, so the rest of the Scorpions are here." Ray greeted them as Manae, and Don joined up with Gorg and Chick. "And here I thought I'd have to enter a battle of wits with Gorg to pass the time, not that it would've been much of a battle."

"Keep talking smart guy and I'll bash your brains in." Gorg threatened him as he brandished his hammer whilst Chick the Yellow hid behind him. "Your lucky we have to duel you punk!"

"Speaking off." Don interjected as he pushed to the front of the group and activated his duel disk, Ray did likewise, and Don grinned. "For the purposes of the duel, I will represent the group, but we act as our own Deck Masters, the Dark Scorpion Burglars!" Don added as the rest of the group got into position (4/1000/1000) and before Ray could say anything else the Deck Master database appeared in front of him.

"_The Dark Scorpion Burglars is a Level 4 Monster, that gives me some decent options at least." _Ray thought as he went through his options. "My deck master is Komouri Dragon." Ray announced as the dark dragon appeared on the field (4/1500/1200). "He's a normal monster but in a clash of the deck masters? I win regardless." Ray added as they drew their opening hands.

"We'll see about that! It's my move." Don responded before looking over his hand. "I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode!" Don called out as his three monsters appeared on the field. "It's your move kid!"

"_I'm not going to point out that I'm 27 in real life." _Ray thought as he drew his card. _"Mostly because I don't know if the ages stay the same in the virtual world or not." _Ray thought before playing his cards. "I set two cards facedown as well, and I summon Abyss Dragon Level 4!" Ray announced as he played the cards and a pitch black dragon that was the same height as Komouri Dragon appeared on the field (4/1900/1200). "Abyss Dragon, attack his defense monster!" Ray commanded and the pitch black dragon unleashed a wave of dark energy at the facedown monster, revealed to be Familiar Knight (4/1200/1400) which was quickly destroyed. "Familiar Knight, figures."

"Were you expecting us to run fairies or something?" Gorg scoffed as he motioned to Don. "When Familiar Knight is destroyed, we can special summon a level four or lower monster from our hands."

"I was getting to that Gorg." Don responded with an annoyed look on his face before he held up a card. "I summon myself to the field." Don announced as another copy of Don Zaloog appeared on the field (4/1400/1500). "Just to be clear, I'm not summoning my deck master form, remember, the Dark Scorpion Burglars are the deck masters here, not the individual members."

"And here I thought this was going to be easy." Ray responded before he played a card. "I summon Abyss Dragon Level 3!" Ray announced as he played the card and a smaller version of Abyss Dragon Level 4 appeared on the field (3/1000/500). "I' won't bother trying to attack Don with my new monster, but when Abyss Dragon Level 4 destroys a monster by battle he moves into defense mode until my next standby phase." Ray added as the larger dragon crouched down.

"What'll happen on your next standby phase?" Chick asked nervously and Ray grinned.

"Wait and see, I end my turn." Ray announced and Don drew his card.

*meanwhile*

Whilst Ray was distracting the Dark Scorpions and they mercenary force Chelsea, Kaiba and Felix where sneaking through the camp, however Chelsea took a monster to look up at the duel.

"_Huh, didn't realize that I2 had released more Level monsters." _Chelsea thought with a frown as she watched the action. _"That's definitely not the same deck I faced when I was fifteen, he still used dragons, but these Abyss Dragons are definitely new cards."_

"Chelsea, we found her." Kaiab's voice rang out breaking Chelsea's concentration as she ran up to catch up with her male companions, sure enough her ex-girlfriend was sitting in a cage and Kylie grinned when she saw Chelsea.

"I'm a bit confused." Chelsea grinned as she sat down in front of the cage. "I thought you liked cage dancing."

"Funny." Kylie responded as she rolled her eyes before motioning to Felix who was picking the lock. "Can you tell Felix to hurry things up."

"You can't rush perfection." Felix responded as he motioned over to the duel. "Unless you want to alert them." Felix added and Kylie pouted as she waited to be freed.

*back at the duel*

"Now the real fun begins!" Don proclaimed as he played the card. "I activate Mustering of the Dark Scorpions! With this I can Special Summon the other members of the Dark Scorpions, so welcome to the field Gorg the Strong!" Don announced as the tallest and most muscular member of the Dark Scorpions appeared on the field (5/1800/1500). "Cliff, the Trap Remover!" Don added as the brunette member of the Dark Scorpions appeared on the field (3/1200/1000). "Chick, the Yellow!"

"_Clearly this guy has never heard of ladies first." _Ray thought as the cowardly blonde member of the Dark Scorpions appeared on the field (3/1000/1000). _"Either way, if one of his facedown cards is what I think it is, I'm in for a world of hurt."_

"And last but by no means least, Manae the Thorn!" Don proclaimed as the sole female member of the Dark Scorpions appeared on the field (4/1000/1800). "And now to deal some real damage! I activate Dark Scorpion Combination! Now all of us can attack you directly! Sure, the damage gets reduced to 400 but that's not all that happens! Dark Scorpions, attack!" Don commanded and the Dark Scorpions charged into battle before hitting Ray with their respective weapons bringing his life-points down to 6000. "And now our Deck Master ability kicks in."

"I had a feeling you'd say that." Ray responded as he got back to his feet. "But don't you have the effects of the Dark Scorpions members to go through first?"

"No, because our Deck Master ability triggered when we attacked you directly." Manae responded before grinning. "When we attack you directly you are forced to mill the same number of cards from your deck as the number of monsters that attacked you and you lose five hundred life-points for each card." Manae added as Ray milled the four cards bringing his life-points down to 4000. "And now for our effects, take it away Donny."

"I told you not to call me that whilst we're working!" Don responded with an annoyed look on his face before grinning. "First, Manae's effect lets me add another Dark Scorpion to my hand." Don added before he started searching his deck. "Next, Chick the Yellow will look at the top card of your deck and move it to the bottom."

"Don't mind if I do!" Chick responded before he raced over and looked at the top card of Ray's deck before moving it to the bottom. "Level Up, that wouldn't have helped him!"

"_Oh, how wrong he is," _Ray thought as he glanced at his deck. "That just leaves Don, Gorg and Cliff."

"I was getting to that, now Cliff will send two more cards from the top of your deck to the graveyard." Don added as Ray sent the two cards to the graveyard. "As for Gorg, he will send the next top card of your deck to the graveyard."

"_A Dark Scorpion Mill Deck?" _Ray thought as he sent the top card of his deck to the graveyard. _"I've always thought of this archetype as a beatdown strategy, I guess Sophia wants to challenge perceptions with this game!"_

"And last but not least, yours truly." Don added before pointing to Ray. "And your losing another two cards." Don added as Ray milled two cards. "That's ten cards milled already, either we beat you the old fashioned way or you get decked out, what do you say to that?"

"I saw that you've forgotten that I still have two dragons on the field, one of which will make short work of Gorg even though he's a level four monster." Ray responded as he folded his arms. "So, unless you have another move to make, it's my move."

"Actually, I do! I activate the Great Heist!" Don announced as his facedown card flipped up depicting the Dark Scorpions getting ready to blow up a massive vault door with TNT, presumably a bank vault. "Through our combined efforts, you have milled ten cards, thanks to The Great Heist you mill twice that amount as you were attacked by the Dark Scorpions."

"_Okay, now I'm getting worried." _Ray thought as he milled all twenty cards leaving him with just ten cards. _"I'd hate to lose this early, thankfully these idiots have given me the perfect opportunity to turn this around without realizing it."_

"Fortunately for you, we have to skip our next Battle Phase since we used the card." Don added as he sent the two trap cards and the Spell Card to the graveyard. "It's your move." Don added and Ray drew his card.

"_It's now or never." _Ray thought before glancing up at his opponents. "You guys mind if I look at my graveyard?" Ray asked the thieves shrugged their shoulders prompting Ray to retrieve the cards in the graveyard. _"Eighteen dragons, this should do it." _Ray thought before looking up. "First off, the effects of my Abyss Dragons trigger, as they have been on the field for a turn they level up." Ray added and the Dark Scorpions scoffed as the two dragons started glowing.

"You have nine cards in your deck!" Cliff responded with a laugh. "How is Special Summoning two monsters from your deck going to help you?!"

"Who said anything about the deck?" Ray asked earning confused looks as he retrieved two cards from his graveyard. "The Abyss Dragon monsters can Special Summon their stronger forms from my graveyard if the situation calls for it, so I summon Abyss Dragon Level Seven and Abyss Dragon Level 5!" Ray announced as the two huge dragons appeared on the field with mighty roars (7/3000/2500) and (5/2600/2100). "And now my deck master's ability kicks in, when I special summon at least one Dark Type Dragon Monster from my graveyard, I can select one of them, and that one dragon will attack all of your monsters in the same turn, I chose Abyss Dragon Level 7!"

"Wait, what?!" Don asked as panic started to let in among the Dark Scorpions. "That's enough damage to finish us off."

"Glad to know that you guys can do math, just be glad that I can't use my trap cards the same turn I use this effect." Ray responded before pointing at the Dark Scorpions. "Abyss Dragon, finish it!" Ray commanded and the dragon unleashed a massive wave of dark energy at the Dark Scorpions destroying them all and bringing their life-points well bellow zero. "Go tell your employer than a revolution is coming." Ray added as the mercenary force started to scatter. "And it will not be civilized!" Ray added and the Dark Scorpios fled.

"Man, that was brutal." Chelsea's voice rang out after Ray got the boss defeated message and Ray looked up seeing his companions' approach with the freshly freed Kylie. "Glad I didn't face that in the school tournament."

"Even if I did have this deck back then, I don't think I would've taken this deck to that tournament." Ray responded before they spotted something glowing in Don's tent. "You think that's a destiny orb?"

"One way to find out." Chelsea responded with a grin before she went over to the tent, sure enough it was a destiny orb and she grabbed it. "One down, nineteen to go." Chelsea added once the group got the experience boost.

"We had better get going." Kaiba added as the world started to dissolve around them. "Or we can pick this up in the morning."

"That sounds likely." Chelsea nodded as the computerized voice announced the end of the session.

*later that night in the real world*

The post session meeting had gone smoothly with not as many complaints and Sophia announcing the first destiny orbs being acquired alongside the first eliminations, however the tournament would pick up again at eleven o'clock in he morning allowing the duelists to get a lie in at least.

"Gentlemen, I'm happy to report that the first day of the tournament has been successful." Sophia informed the board of directors over a video chat. "Some small complaints here and there but nothing that will affect the tournament in the long run."

"That is excellent to hear Sophia." The head of the board of directors responded with a nod as he leaned forward. "Has Claudio Caruso caused any problems?"

"Aside from being a pain in the ass, no." Sophia responded before she felt a sharp, stinging pain in her head. "Sorry, stress is getting to me I guess."

"It's midnight at Duelist Kingdom, isn't it?" The head of the board of directors asked with genuine concern in his voice and Sophia nodded. "Get some rest, last thing we need is the CEO of I2 collapsing from exhaustion."

"I'll try too, have a good night gentlemen and keep me posted on any developments at HQ." Sophia responded and the board of directors nodded before hanging up. _"Sharp stinging pain in my head, that can only mean one thing." _Sophia thought as she promptly stood up. _"I had better retire to my room before…"_

Sophia never finished her thought as she clutched her head and let out a blood curdling scream at the top of her lungs, upon hearing the scream the guards posted outside her office burst in and saw Sophia on her knees. "Ms. Pegasus, are you hurt?" The guard who had opened the door asked and Sophia slowly stood up.

"Never better." The demonic voice spoke through Sophia and the two guards shared a look. "Get Kaiba now."

*elsewhere in the castle*

It was late at night on Duelist Kingdom Island and for most of the competing duelists, they were fast asleep ready for the continuation of the tournament in the morning, all except one.

"_Why can't I get any sleep tonight?"_ Ariana thought as she lay down on her bed staring on the wall on her left, the Greek Iranian woman let out a yawn before shifting her weight_. "I had better get to sleep soon, otherwise I'll be too tired to compete!"_ Ariana thought before adjusting her position so that she was lying on her back.

However, as she did, she wasn't greeted by the site of the roof of her bedroom, rather it was a pair of dark, feminine eyes staring back at her and quickly realized that the mystery woman was on top of her in a manner that suggested that they were about to have sex, Ariana let out a surprised yelp before she quickly moved the woman off her and rolled out of bed before backed away from the mysterious woman who was wearing a hoody with the hood up and the same jeans she had worn earlier that day. "What's the matter Ariana? Unhappy to see me?"

"Who are you? How did you get in here?!" Ariana demanded as she backed up to the wall next to the door. "GUARDS!"

"Don't bother, they can't hear you." The woman responded as she walked into Ariana's personal space, Ariana reached for the doorknob, but her hand passed right through the knob. "Don't you recognize me?"

"Why should I?" Ariana demanded before the woman removed her hood, Ariana's eyes went as wide as dinner plates as she reached for the knob again.

"I'm you, only stronger." The woman, who was an exact match for Ariana aside from her dark eyes, said as she caressed her chin.

"No, you're not!" Ariana responded as she swatted the hand away. "I'm my own person, you will not control me!"

"Don't you understand Ariana?" The woman asked as she got uncomfortably close to Ariana. "Together, we can conquer the dueling world!" Her double added before kissing Ariana on the lips, however it wasn't a pleasant kiss as Ariana felt like her soul was being sucked out and tried to break the kiss but to no avail as her double's grip was too strong, eventually she felt her strength fade when.…...

*in the real world*

Ariana awoke with a start having been asleep the whole time, she looked around as she sat up and too her relief saw that she was alone.

"_What the hell was that dream about?!"_ Ariana thought as she ran a hand through her long and messy hair. _"Stronger together? And that kiss? I don't even have a boyfriend yet! Let alone any sexual interest in other women!"_ Ariana thought before she leaned back in her bed, she thought for a moment that she heard the whispers again and used her pillow to cover her ears. _"My psychologist will have a field day with everything that's happened since I arrived at the island!"_ Ariana thought as she started to fall asleep again.


	19. Clash of the Corporate Titans

By now most of the duelists who were competing in the Virtual Kingdom tournament were asleep or getting ready to go to sleep, for Seto Kaiba however he still had some work to do before he retired to his bed for the night.

"_This will surely come up at the shareholders meeting in Domino City next month." _Kaiba thought as he typed away at his laptop in his room on the top floor of the castle. _"However, it won't be a problem, as long as the shareholders are kept happy off course, now where to invest next?" _Kaiba's train of thought was interrupted by a knock at the door and he glanced up. "You realize how late it is right?" Kaiba called out as two of Sophia's men opened the door. "Unless you're here to wish me good night on Sophia's behalf, I have work to do."

"Sorry Mr. Kaiba but Ms. Pegasus has requested your presence." One of the men responded as he stood to attention. "And she insists that it can't wait until tomorrow morning."

"Oh?" Kaiba asked mockingly as he turned to the two men. "Is she still in search of a decent cup of coffee on this island?"

"With all due respect Mr. Kaiba, this is urgent." The other man responded and Kaiba's frown deepened. "We fear that Ms. Pegasus has been possessed by the same demon that possessed Gavin Freeman and Ariana Sommers."

"What?!" Kaiba demanded before he stood up promptly. "Where is she now?"

"Waiting for you in the same hallway where the original Duelist Kingdom finals were held." The guard responded with a nod and Kaiba's eyes narrowed. "Do you have a deck?"

"I gave my deck to my daughter after she expressed an interest in learning the game." Kaiba responded as he shook his head. "I'll have one of my men wake her up, frankly this situation needs to be contained before the night ends."

"Understood Mr. Kaiba." The first man to speak up responded with a nod as they made their way out of his room. "When you are ready, we will escort you to Sophia's location."

"I'm ready now." Kaiba responded before he started following Sophia's men. _"This demon is moving up in the world, if we don't contain it soon, there's no telling who it'll possess next."_

*ten minutes later*

The hallway that played host to the original Duelist Kingdom finals hadn't seen much use in recent years, however as Kaiba approached it one thing caught his eye immediately.

"A duel field? Really?" Kaiba asked with an amused look on his face as he looked at the obsolete technology, the duel field was the same one that was used in the Duelist Kingdom finals and whilst age hadn't been kind too it the field was still operational, and standing on the opposite podium was Sophia, or rather her possessed form. "I thought all the duel fields on the island had been dismantled."

"Not all of them." The demon spoke through Sophia's mouth as her eyes narrowed. "I guess my current subject's father has a bit of sentimental value when it comes to this particular Duel Field, now then, I suppose you want to free your business partner from my control?"

"Just one thing before we get started." Kaiba responded as his eyes narrowed. "When you possessed Ariana during her duel against Sophia earlier, you said that the mentally ill were easy to possess, yet there is no record of Sophia or Gavin Freeman having any mental illnesses."

"Just because they are easy to possess doesn't mean that I exclusively target the mentally ill." The demon responded before smirking. "And how much do you know about your business partner really?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kaiba asked as his eyes narrowed. "I know Sophia to be a talented businesswoman for her age and a firm but fair boss to her employees, unless your talking about her personal life then I already know everything that I need to about her."

"Not everything." The demon taunted him and Kaiba glared at him. "Pity that you won't get a chance to ask her about it because after this shadow game? You'll be banished to the Shadow Realm."

"And here I thought I had left that nonsense behind when I retired from dueling." Kaiba snarked before they activated their duel disks and plugged them into the podium causing the duel field to come to life. "What are the rules of this shadow game exactly? I've seen enough shadow games to know that they aren't exactly pleasant experiences."

"Oh, that's simple." The demon responded before smirking. "When I win this duel everything you know about Sophia will be gone forever, and you'll be joining her in the Shadow Realm, after I am done with her, I will possess both of you permanently."

"I don't think so." Kaiba responded before they drew their opening hands. _"Sophia was a World Class duelist before she retired to take over I2, in fact many had pegged her to be the one to dethrone Eddie Roberts and win the Battle City crown before the news came out, I don't know if the demon will come with Sophia's skills as a duelist but I've never seen her lose a duel." _Kaiba thought with a frown before going over his hand. "Who's going first?"

"Ladies first." The demon responded before he went over Sophia's hand. "I set two cards facedown and I summon Demonic Beast – Aquarius!"

"_Just as I thought." _Kaiba thought with a frown as a large, dog like demonic creature appeared on the field with a growl (4/1800/1200). "What's the matter? Don't want to use Sophia's own deck?"

"This deck is far superior than this puny mortal's deck!" The demon scoffed as Sophia's eyes narrowed. "It's your move, try not to let your rust get in the way of a good duel."

"I had been practicing against the test robots at KaibaCorp prior to coming out of retirement." Kaiba responded as he drew his card. "So, if you think I'm a little rusty, then you must be as obsolete as this duel field! As you control a monster and I don't, I can Special Summon Kaiser Vorse Raider!" Kaiba announced as he played the card and the light blue version of the hideous Beast-Warrior appeared on the field (5/1900/1200). "Kaiser Vorse Raider, attack Demonic Beast – Aquarius!" Kaiba commanded and the beast-warrior charged into battle…...

"I activate my trap card, Howl of the Wolf Pack!" The demon called out as the trap card flipped up depicting several demonic, dog like creatures howling at a blood red moon. "As you have declared an attack against a Demonic Beast this trap card allows me to Special Summon another from my hand or deck, I Special Summon Demonic Beast – Thenasteles!" Sophia announced as a smaller but still demonic looking beast appeared on the field (3/500/200).

"If you were hoping to save your life-points with that move, then you've failed miserably! Kaiser Vorse Raider, your new target is Demonic Beast – Thenasteles!" Kaiba commanded and the Beast-Warrior changed targets and charged towards the smaller beast.

"Or I would, if not for my other trap card." Sophia responded as the other facedown card flipped up depicting a mother wolf protecting a cub from several demonic beasts. "Mother's Ruin can only be activated when I have at least two Demonic Beasts on the field and the weaker one is targeted by an attack or card effect the attack is negated and the strongest demonic beast is destroyed." Sophia added as Demonic Beast Aquarius jumped into the path of Kaiser Vorse Raider's halberd taking the blow for Thenasteles and destroying it.

"If you wanted to be rid of your Demonic Beast so badly, you should've just let the attack go through." Kaiba scoffed before picking up two cards. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Kaiba announced as the two set cards appeared on the field and Sophia drew her card.

"Perhaps, but I have my reasons for doing this." Sophia responded before smirking. "After all, a parent is so quick to jump to the young one's defense when they've been attacked, even if it is their own fault." The demon added before making Sophia smirk. "I would say "just ask Sophia's stepfather" but you won't be around long enough to do so."

"What are you talking about?!" Kaiba demanded as Sophia drew her card.

"That would be telling." Sophia responded as she looked over her hand. "And now, you're in trouble! I sacrifice Thenasteles to summon Demonic Beast – Tyranius!" Sophia announced as she slapped the card down and the smaller demonic beast vanished only to be replaced by a much larger and more menacing wolf like demon (6/2500/1200). "Before I go on the attack, as Thenasteles was used in the tribute summon of a Demonic Beast I can draw a card."

"A tribute summon deck?" Kaiba scoffed as Sophia drew another card. "How quaint, considering that you are possessing the mind of the current CEO of I2 then you must know that the game has advanced significantly since the original Duelist Kingdom."

"Perhaps, but maybe you shouldn't judge a book by it's cover! Tyranius, attack Kaiser Vorse Raider!" Sophia commanded and the large demon charged across the field before decapitating Kaiser Vorse Raider with a single swipe of his claw. "And that's first blood to me."

"Perhaps, but it's only a flesh wound." Kaiba responded as his life-points dropped to 7900. "But more importantly, by destroying Kaiser Vorse Raider you've activated his effect! This effect allows me to deduct five hundred attack points from one monster you control, and what do you know?" Kaiba asked sarcastically as Tyranius's attack points dropped to 2000. "You've just made that selection easy for me." Kaiba added and Sophia smirked.

"And if you had a level four monster capable of besting my Demonic Beast, I'd be worried." Sophia responded before picking up the second card she had drawn. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

"_If this demon thinks that it can impress me by using a knock-off Steelswarm deck, then I'm about to give him a taste of reality" _Kaiba thought as he drew his card. _"He might be possessing Sophia's body but it's clear that me that he doesn't have an ounce of her skills." _Kaiba thought before playing a card. "I activate Cards of Consonance! In exchange for discarding one weak Dragon Type Tuner Monster from my hand I can draw two cards."

"Now it's my turn to be unimpressed." The demon responded as Kaiba discarded a card before drawing two more. "Anyone who's followed Miranda Kaiba's career in the pro leagues knows this combo well."

"Then I won't keep you in suspense! The monster I just discarded was White Stone of Legend, and with its effect I can add one Blue-Eyes White Dragon to my hand." Kaiba added before he let his deck auto shuffle before adding the card to his hand. "But don't expect it to remain in my hand for long! I activate Trade In! by discarding the Blue Eyes White Dragon I just added to my hand I can draw an additional two cards."

"Is there a point to this beyond drawing five cards in a single turn?" The demon asked impatiently as Kaiba discarded another card and drew two cards.

"Don't worry, I'll get to the point right now! I activate my Spell Card RETURN OF THE DRAGON LORDS!" Kaiba yelled out as he slapped the card down and a familiar roar filled the air. "Your demonic beasts have met their match! With this Spell Card I can target one level seven or eight Dragon Type Monster in my graveyard and special summon it to the field! Come forth, Blue-Eyes White Dragon!" Kaiba called out as the famous dragon appeared on the field with a mighty roar (8/3000/2500). "Blue-Eyes White Dragon put that demonic beast on the endangered species list! White Lightning!" Kaiba commanded and the dragon opened its maw to unleash the famous attack.

"All that build up, just for an anti-climax!" The demon mocked Kaiba before his facedown card flipped up depicting several demonic beasts mauling a member of the Goblin Attack Force. "I activate my trap card Pack Attack! By removing two Demonic Beasts from my graveyard I can add their attack to one Demonic Beast on the field!" Sophia added as she pocketed Aquarius and Thenasteles causing Tyranius's attack points to shoot up 4300. "Tyranius, why don't you show this pathetic human some real power! Attack his dragon!" Sophia commanded as the large demonic beast pounced towards the dragon.

"Did you really think it'd be that easy? I activate my trap card Fiendish Chain!" Kaiba announced as the trap card flipped up causing Tyranius to be ensnared by chains. "Not only is his effect negated, if he had one to begin with, but he can't attack."

"In case you haven't noticed, your dragon still has it's attack." The demon pointed out as the dragon prepared to attack the ensnared beast. "And your trap card did nothing to change my trap card's effect, you just threw away your best monster!"

"Did I?" Kaiba asked mockingly as his other facedown card flipped up. "I activate Compulsory Evacuation Device to return my Blue-Eyes White Dragon to my hand." Kaiba added as the dragon got launched into the air before the attack could be launched and he returned the monster to his hand. "My life-points are safe."

"Until I destroy Fiendish Chain." The demon scoffed as he made Sophia fold her arms. "All it'll take is one Mystical Space Typhoon and your life-points are in trouble."

"I don't know if you've noticed but I've yet to make a normal summon this turn." Kaiba responded as he picked up three cards. "So, I set two cards facedown and I summon Neo Rude Kaiser!" Kaiba added as he played the cards and a new version of the classic monster Rude Kaiser appeared on the field though like Kaiser Vorse Raider it was light blue in color (5/1800/1600). "Like Kaiser Vorse Raider, Neo Rude Kaiser can be summoned without tribute as long as my opponent controls a monster and I don't." Kaiba added before smirking. "And I summoned him in attack mode."

"So eager to show off your daughter's new toys that you make a foolish decision like that." The demon scoffed as he glared at Kaiba. "And as soon as I destroy Fiendish Chain it'll be you who pays the ultimate price."

"I'll have to write you an IOU card when I defeat you, for now, I end my turn." Kaiba responded with a smirk and Sophia drew her card.

"Well, well, would you look at that." The demon said through Sophia's mouth before he made her play the card she had just drawn. "I activate Mystical Space Typhoon! Say good-bye to the chains that bind my beast!" The demon announced a a storm washed over the field destroying Fiendish Chain and freeing Tyranius. "And a good chunk of your life-points! Tyranius, destroy Neo Rude Kaiser!" The demon commanded and the beast pounced on the smaller monster…

"You targeted the wrong trap card." Kaiba responded with a smirk before activating his facedown card. "I activate Taking You With Me!"

"No! That'll destroy Tyranius as soon as Neo Rude Kaiser is sent to the graveyard!" The demon realized as Sophia's eyes widened whilst Neo Rude Kaiser slashed Tyranius's throat with one of his wrist mounted blades in his dying moments destroying the beast. "But you still take damage." The demon added is Kaiba's life-points dropped to 5400.

"Perhaps, but maybe that's what I wanted?" Kaiba asked as his other facedown card flipped up. "I activate Damage Gate! In exchange for discarding a card from my hand I can now summon a monster whose attack is equal too or less than the damage I just took, I summon the mighty Blue-Eyes Wyvern." Kaiba announced as he played the card and the younger form of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon appeared on the field (4/1600/1200). "He's not much to look at but he'll damage your life-points on my turn."

"We're agreed on the first part, for one thing I still have my normal summon and Demonic Beast – Eradus is more than enough to keep him at bay." The demon responded as he played the card and another wolf like demon appeared on the field though this one was red in color (4/1900/1200). "And when he is normal summoned, I can add a card with "Demonic Beast" in its description to my hand." The demon added before Sophia searched through her deck.

"What's all that noise?!" The duelists looked up and saw an exhausted looking Chelsea and Chloe with Amanda and Adrienne not far behind them, Chloe and Chelsea were in their nightgowns whilst Amanda and Adrienne were wearing nothing but their underwear. "A duel? Seriously?! You realize it's 3:00am right?" Chelsea asked as she checked the time on her iPhone.

"Oh good, more victims for when I defeat Kaiba." The demon responded and the four women frowned once they realized what was happening. "Go ahead and wake up the rest of the castle, it'll speed things up for me considerably."

"Not going to happen." Chloe responded as she wiped some sleep from her eyes. "Well, we may as well see if we can get a better view of the action, right?"

"You girls do what you want." Amanda responded with a yawn as she led Adrienne back to the room they were sharing. "All that noise interrupted our sex session before I could get Adrienne's bra off." Amanda added causing Chloe and Chelsea to sweat-drop.

"You ever hear of too much information?!" Chloe called after them but by that point the lesbian couple had resumed making out before disappearing into their room. "Seriously, who has sex at 3:00am?!" Chloe wondered causing Chelsea to cough awkwardly.

"You'd be surprised." Chelsea responded before turning to Kaiba's men. "Can you take us somewhere were we can get a better view of the action?"

"Follow me, ladies." One of Kaiba's men responded before leading Chloe and Chelsea down another hallway.

"Now that that distraction is out of the way." The demon deadpanned as Chloe and Chelsea were led up to the balcony overlooking the duel field and Sophia added the card to her hand. "I end my turn with a facedown card, do your worst."

"Famous last words." Kaiba responded before he drew his card. "Perfect! I summon the King of Dragons." Kaiba announced as the more regal looking Lord of Dragons appeared on the field (4/1200/1100). "As I have normal summoned him I can discard a Spell/Trap Card to add one Flute of Summoning Dragon, The Melody of Awakening Dragon or Dragon Revival Rhapsody from my deck to my hand, I chose Dragon Revival Rhapsody."

"What's the point?!" The demon demanded as Kaiba discarded a card and added the Spell Card to his hand. "The only dragon in your graveyard was Blue-Eyes White Dragon and you summoned that card back to the field with Return of the Dragon Lords earlier in the duel."

"Actions speak louder than words, I activate Dragon Revival Rhapsody to bring back the Blue-Eyes White Dragon I discarded for Damage Gate!" Kaiba announced as the familiar roar filled the room before the Blue-Eyes White Dragon returned to the field. "Before I continue, I activate Card of Demise! I draw until I have five cards in my hand but in five turns, I will have to discard my hand." Kaiba added before holding his arm out with all five fingers up. "And in those five turns, you time will be up because by then, I will have defeated you and freed Sophia."

"Is that a fact?!" The demon scoffed as Sophia folded her arms. "Go ahead and try."

"Gladly, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack Erabus with White Lightning!" Kaiba commanded and the dragon unleashed it's famous attack at the demonic beast destroying it and reducing the demon's life-points to 6900. "And that's just the beginning, Blue-Eyes Wyvern…"

"As a famous rival of yours once said, not so fast Kaiba!" The demon interrupted him as the facedown card flipped up. "I activate my trap card Michizure! Since you just sent a monster, I control to the graveyard I can destroy one monster you control, like Blue-Eyes Wyvern."

"It seems you've forgotten one key fact! The King of Dragons is treated as Lord of Dragons meaning it protects my wyvern from being targeted." Kaiba responded only for his eyes to widen as the dragon shattered. "What?!"

"Now who's forgotten a key fact?" The demon mocked Kaiba and Kaiba growled. "Michizure doesn't target! And you've forgotten about Return of the Dragon Lords."

"Perhaps I have, but when Blue-Eyes Wyvern is destroyed by battle or card effect I can add one Blue-Eyes Monster from my deck to my hand." Kaiba responded before he started searching through his deck, once he added the card to his hand and let his deck auto shuffle he pointed to Sophia. "And just for that, I'll attack you directly! King of Dragons, attack!" Kaiba commanded and the spellcaster launched his attack at Sophia bringing her life-points down to 5700. "And just like that, I have the lead."

"But for how long?" The demon asked as Sophia smirked. "Once your turn ends, you'll have four turns to fulfill your promise."

"With my Blue-Eyes White Dragon on the field, you won't even last two turns, I end my turn." Kaiba announced and Sophia drew her card.

"Unfortunately for you, they won't remain on the field for very long! I activate Feast of the Pack!" Sophia announced as she played the card depicting several demonic beasts eating the remains of dead humans. "As I have at least two Demonic Beasts in my graveyard I can remove both from play to destroy all monsters you control! And you can thank Erabus for this card." Sophia added and Kaiba was quick to respond.

"My King of Dragons may fall but not my Blue-Eyes White Dragon! I activate the second effect of Return of the Dragon Lords, removing it from play to save my dragon." Kaiba responded before he pocketed the Spell Card and whilst King of Dragons was destroyed his dragon stood tall. "My dragon will not become a feast for your beasts!"

"We'll see about that! I set one card facedown and end my turn." Sophia announced as she set the card and Kaiba drew his card. "Oh, and Seto?" The demon added before grinning. "Four turns left."

"I know." Kaiba responded before looking at his drawn card. "And the countdown to your extinction starts now! Blue-Eyes White Dragon, attack the demon's life-points directly! White Lightning!" Kaiba commanded and the dragon opened its maw to unleash its signature attack.

"The countdown has been delayed I'm afraid! I activate Mirror Force!" The demon responded and Kaiba's eyes widened before the attack was redirected back at his dragon destroying it. "Thank you for wasting Return of the Dragon Lords."

"I end my turn." Kaiba announced with a growl and Sophia drew her card.

"What a shame that your prophecy won't come to pass, I activate Howl of the Night Wolf." Sophia announced as she played the Spell Card depicting a demonic beast howling at the moon. "Those monsters I've removed from play? They are about to return, well, the stronger monsters at least." The demon added as Aquarius, Tyranius and Eradus returned to the field. "Here's some math for you Seto, the combined attack points of my three monsters are 6200, you have 5400 life-points remaining, I know you've never been good at accepting defeat, but you've lost! Tyranius, Eradus, Aquarius, finish this fool off!" Sophia commanded and the three demonic beasts charged into battle.

"My prophecy won't be denied! From my hand I activate Roar of the Buried Dragon!" Kaiba announced as his life-points dropped to 3400 and he discarded the rest of his hand. "I pay two thousand life-points and discard the remaining cards in my hand to bring back the Blue-Eyes White Dragon from my graveyard for one turn only." Kaiba added as the dragon returned to the field with a roar. "But please, feel free to attack my dragon."

"Nice try, I end my turn." Sophia responded and Kaiba drew his card once the dragon disappeared from the field. "Three turns left Seto."

"I know." Kaiba responded before looking at his drawn card. "I end my turn."

"Finally given in, have we?" The demon asked as he made Sophia draw a card. "Too bad, I was interested in seeing this prophecy come to life, finish him off my beasts!" The demon commanded only for an ear-piercing screech to fill the air. "WHAT?!"

"Command Silencer, it negates your attack and sets me draw a card." Kaiba responded before he draw a card. "I don't care how many people I just woke up with that move, I will not be denied."

"Don't come crying to us when everyone sleeps in tomorrow morning." Chelsea chimed in and Kaiba turned to her. "Just saying!"

"In any case, I end my turn, and this marks the fourth turn since you made your proclamation." The demon responded and Kaiba drew his card.

"I set one card facedown and end my turn." Kaiba announced as he set the card and Sophia drew her card.

"Now this duel is over! I activate Night Beam! Now your facedown card is gone, and you can't activate it in response!" The demon announced as he made Sophia play the card and a beam of light shot forth destroying Kaiba's facedown card. "You'll make a fine servant! Finish him off my beasts!" The demon commanded and the beasts charged but were stopped by a brilliant light. "What now?!"

"From my hand, I activated Goddess of Sweet Revenge!" Kaiba responded as he held up the monster (6/1800/2000). "As I control no cards and have no other cards in my hand, I can discard this monster to destroy as many cards as possible on your side of the field, I'm sure you won't mind if I destroy all monsters you control, will you?" Kaiba asked mockingly and Sophia's eyes widened as the light consumed the three monsters destroying them. "But that's not all my card did."

"What are you talking about?!" The demon demanded before a familiar roar echoed throughout the hallway. "You can't be serious?!"

"I'm as serious as a heart attack! When I use the effect of Goddess of Sweet Revenge, she also lets me Special Summon one monster from my deck." Kaiba responded as the Blue-Eyes White Dragon returned to the field. "And it just so happens that this was the last Blue-Eyes White Dragon in the deck, the other two? They are in the graveyard."

"That won't help you! I set one card facedown and end my turn." The demon responded as he set the card and Kaiba drew his card. "And on that matter…..."

"One turn left for my prophecy to come to fruition, I know." Kaiba interrupted the demon before looking at the drawn card. "I set this card facedown and…..." Kaiba's attack command was cut off when a load roar caused the dragon to cower. "Threatening Roar? You're getting desperate."

"In two turns, you'll be the one running desperate." The demon retorted and Kaiba smirked. "My move?"

"Go ahead." Kaiba responded with a nod and Sophia drew her card.

"You know what? I'll pass, because I want to see you eat your words." The demon announced as Kaiba drew his card. "After all, it's been five turns since you activated Card of Demise!"

"I know." Kaiba responded before discarding the one card in his hand. "First I activate Reckless Greed! I have to skip my next two draw phases but in return I can draw two cards." Kaiba added as his trap card flipped up and Kaiba drew two cards. "Now to seal your doom! I activate Dragon's Mirror! I remove the Blue-Eyes White Dragon on the field from play alongside the two Blue-Eyes White Dragons in my graveyard to summon my ultimate creature!" Kaiba added as he slapped the card down and the three dragons were sucked into the fusion portal. "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon!" Kaiba declared as the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon appeared on the field with a roar (10/4500/3800).

"That won't help you, I still have 5700 life-points left." The demon responded and Kaiba smirked. "So much for your prophecy."

"Encase you haven't noticed I still have one card left in my hand." Kaiba responded before he played the card. "I activate Megamorph!" Kaiba called out and Sophia's eyes widened as the dragon doubled in size and power. "There was once a time where I believed that stuff like prophecies and events being foretold was just a fantasy, this time? I'm embracing the concept with open arms! Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon! Finish this duel off! Neutron Blast!" Kaiba commanded and the dragon unleashed it's attack at Sophia causing a large explosion that wiped out the rest of her life-points and knocking Sophia off her feet. "Sophia, can you hear me?"

"Kaiba?!" Sophia asked in a dazed tone as she got back to her feet. "My apologies Seto, I could do nothing to stop it."

"We need to do something about that demon." Kaiba added before turning to Chloe and Chelsea. "Do either of you have the time?"

"Ten to four in the morning." Chelsea responded as she held up her iPhone. "I don't see anyone getting a fresh start tomorrow."

"Agreed, we'll delay the start so that we can all get a good lie in." Sophia nodded once she regained her senses. "Kaiba, if you want to discuss anything the demon revealed during that duel, meet me in my office tomorrow at your earliest convenience."

"Will do." Kaiba nodded before Kaiba and Sophia left with their men and Chloe and Chelsea returned to their rooms.


	20. Ghost of a Chance

Author's Note: The character of Jason Hutchins wasn't originally created by me, he was created by Colossal Fighter GX and originally debuted in Chapter 88 of Yu-Gi-Oh GX: The Future

As the four duelists went their separate ways to finally get some sleep after the duel between Sophia and Kaiba they had little idea that a third party was watching the duel from the shadows.

"Well, so much for my master's plan." Claudio grumbled under his breath with his arms crossed as he watched the duelists depart, he had been watching the duel from the same balcony that Pegasus himself once occupied during the Duelist Kingdom finals so many years ago but had gone unnoticed largely because he had remained behind the chair that Pegasus had occupied. "No matter, the tournament is still young and there are plenty of duelists in the castle who my master can possess." Claudio added before reaching into his pocket and producing a gold locket, he flipped it open and on the inside was a picture of Ariana taken from her days as a North Academy Student. "And she'll play a part in it, one way or another."

"Hey!" One of the guards called out to Claudio who quickly snapped the locket shut and pocketed it before turning to the guard. "This area is off limits, please return to your room before I am forced to report this intrusion to Ms. Pegasus."

"No need, I will be out of your hair in no time at all." Claudio responded as he walked up to the guard making note of the fact that he was standing on one of the trap doors. "Tell me my good man, do you have a wife? Children?"

"Err, yes, I do, a wife and two sons." The guard responded with a confused look on his face as Claudio reached for a button on the chair. "What does…..." The guard never finished his sentence as Claudio pressed the button triggering the trap door sending the guard plummeting to his death.

"I'm sure they will miss you." Claudio responded with a smirk as he watched the man fall through the trap door. _"If I remember correctly, that door should lead to the ocean, even if Sophia gets suspicious, she'll never find the body."_ Claudio thought before he started to walk off. _"Which is good because if I want to remain on the island, I have to keep up appearances, and one less rent-a-cop won't go amiss."_ Claudio thought before walking off.

*the next day*

Surprisingly enough, the duel between Kaiba and a possessed Sophia didn't wake everyone up in the castle as whilst most of the duelists were disturbed by the sounds coming from that hallway most of them were able to get a good night's sleep, most being the keyword.

"_How I managed to get any sleep after that weird dream last night, I don't know."_ Ariana thought as she stood outside the shower waiting for the water to warm up, the pajamas she wore the previous night were in the laundry basket and she had gotten up early enough for a quick shower. _"Doesn't matter, I just have to have my shower, get dressed, take my medication and check in with Sophia."_ Ariana thought before stepping into the shower once the water was warm enough for her liking and she started washing her naked body. _"After that, everything should be straightforward."_

"_Will it?"_ The demonic voice rang out again breaking Ariana's concentration as she was rubbing shampoo into her long hair, there was silence for a few moments afterwards, so Ariana resumed her shower.

Until the whispers started again and Ariana did her best to ignore them, a few seconds passed and the Greek-Iranian woman was startled by pounding on the shower glass before she looked up and saw a hooded figure, before she could say anything else another figure appeared and started pounding on the glass and this continued until she was no longer in her room, rather her shower was in a dark void completely surrounded by the hooded figures causing Ariana to drop into a fetal position. "Leave me alone…..." Ariana mattered as she rocked back and forth.

"They won't leave you alone." The female figure from Ariana's dream the night before said as she appeared in front of Ariana, completely naked like her double and again, almost completely identical, she knelt down next to her and lifted Ariana's head up before leaning in close enough that it looked like they were going to kiss. "Not until we join forces."

"Never!" Ariana responded as she shoved her double away and shut her eyes tight as the pounding got louder, after a few minutes however the pounding stopped and Ariana opened her eyes, she was back in her room, she let out several deep breaths before carefully standing up so not to slip in the shower. _"Forget my psychologist, the local psychiatric word will have a field day with me!"_ Ariana thought as she finished her shower, dried herself off and started drying her hair before getting dressed. _"Maybe I should start taking my medication as soon as I wake up."_

"Ms. Sommers, are you okay in there?" The voice of one of Sophia's men rang out as she got her underwear on. "I thought you sounded distressed in there?"

"I'm fine, I haven't had my medication yet." Ariana called back to him before putting on her red off the shoulder crop top and jeans on. "That's my next priority." Ariana added once she had her shoes on.

"Good, Sophia is waiting for you so you can make your first check in." The guard reminded her, and Ariana sighed before she started taking her medication.

"I'll be a few minutes, make yourself comfy out there." Ariana responded before she started taking her medication_. "Should I braid my hair or not today? Not like it matters, I'll be spending most of the day in the virtual pod."_ Ariana thought as she took her medication_. "I should definitely mention the dream and the weird vision I had to Sophia though."_

*a few minutes later*

By now most of the competing duelists in the tournament were either waking up or getting ready for breakfast, however for one of the people running the tournament it was business as usual.

"_I can't risk getting possessed by the spirit again."_ Sophia thought as she went over the info she had collected since meeting Ariana the day before_. "Kaiba was able to get me to snap out of it thanks to his dragon but who knows if that will work a second time? And frankly, I'm in no hurry to find out."_

"Ms. Pegasus?" One of the guards asked as he opened the door and Sophia looked up. "One of the competing duelists is here to see you, Ariana Sommers?"

"Ahh, yes, please send her in." Sophia instructed the guard as she started to tidy up her desk and the guard let Ariana in. "Good morning Ariana, or do you prefer Ari?"

"Either's fine, but I prefer that my family calls me Ari." Ariana shrugged her shoulders before sitting down. "You said to check in with you daily to assure you that I was taking my bi-polar medication? Well, I'm here to do just that."

"Glad to hear it." Sophia nodded before clearing her throat. "Did you have a good night last night?"

"Not really, I had a weird nightmare last night, and an even weirder vision whilst in the shower this morning." Ariana explained as she shook her head, when Sophia motioned for her to elaborate Ariana did just that. "I'm beginning to think that my bi-polar disorder is the least of my mental problems."

"Don't worry about that, it's likely just the demon messing with you." Sophia assured her and Ariana nodded. "Before you go off for breakfast, I just want to clear some things with you, if that's okay?"

"Err, sure." Ariana nodded as the Greek-Iranian woman shifted her weight. "What about?"

"Just yourself in general, I understand that your mother runs a Greek restaurant in Pittsburgh?" Sophia asked and Ariana nodded. "Would you describe it as fine dining?"

"Heavens no, it's more of a mom and pop restaurant than anything else." Ariana responded as she shook her head. "It's gotten rave reviews since she opened it with my stepdad, but she'd be the first to tell you that it's far from Fine Dining."

"_In other words, it's the last place Claudio would go out for a meal to." _Sophia thought as she shuffled through her papers. "And you attended public school?"

"Yeah, not like a Greek-Iranian immigrant could afford to send me to a private school, the only reason I was able to enroll in North Academy in the first place was because the restaurant was doing so well." Ariana responded with a nod as she shifted her weight. "Only downside was that every teacher kept mispronouncing my Greek surname which got annoying quickly, it was kind of a blessing when my parents got married as it gave me an excuse to change my surname."

"I can imagine." Sophia nodded in understanding before frowning. "The reason I'm asking these questions is related to your first management company, C.C. Management Inc, and your main sponsor, they are run by a very rich man who is on the Duel Monsters Tournament Committee alongside myself and Kaiba, and they don't normally take on relative unknowns like yourself or the other young duelists they managed before you."

"I did find that odd now that you mention it." Ariana nodded in agreement as she brushed some hair over her shoulder. "Especially when I saw how much money I'd be making from my main sponsor! My mom didn't even pay that much money when she brought the property that would become her restaurant."

"There's a reason for that, duelists on the regional level like yourself rarely get big money sponsors unless they are from a famous Dueling family like the Kaiba siblings or they come from big money themselves like Kaiba in his youth." Sophia explained and Ariana nodded. "Last thing we need in the dueling world is young duelists spending all their money at once and being broke later in life, my biological family was fairly well off but even I had to work my way up when I was competing in the California regionals."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense." Ariana nodded before she went to stand up. "Is that all? I'm starving."

"So am I but there's one quick thing I want to ask you before you jet off." Sophia responded as she shifted her weight. "Do you have any plans for the last week of August through to the second week of September?"

"No, why?" Ariana asked with a raised eyebrow and Sophia pushed something towards her.

"You ever been back to your home country of Greece since you were four?" Sophia asked and Ariana shook her head before looking at the thing that Sophia was showing her. "That's about to change."

"Battle City?" Ariana choked up as she saw the invite with her name on it before standing up. "You got me on the roster?"

"It's hard enough for young duelists to get ahead in the dueling world, believe me, I've been there." Sophia explained as she stood up and walked around her desk to face the younger woman. "Last thing we need is management companies screwing them over, I couldn't get you on every roster they screwed you out of for a variety of reasons, but I'd say that a chance to compete in your city of birth makes up for it, wouldn't you?"

"I can't thank you enough!" Ariana responded happily before hugging Sophia catching the CEO by surprise, she quickly broke the hug and grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, I got carried away there."

"Don't worry about it, I'd do the same if I was in your shoes." Sophia nodded in understanding once the surprise wore off and Ariana grinned before pocketing the invite and heading out the door. "Be sure to call your mom and tell her the good news."

"Definitely." Ariana nodded before leaving Sophia's office, once the door was closed Sophia heard her phone going off and answered it once she saw that it was the head of security.

"Thomas, this had better be worth keeping me from my breakfast." Sophia said once she had put her phone on speaker and briefly glanced over at the info she had gathered. _"No chance Claudio went to her mother's restaurant or that she went to the same school as his children, well, there's still a chance knowing how many prostitutes he fucked but I mean those who know who their father is, what is his connection with Ariana?"_

"Apologies Ms. Pegasus but one of the nightshift patrols, Jason Ward, didn't report for changeover." Thomas responded and Sophia frowned as she picked up the phone. "I initially assumed that he had left before checking in but that was two hours ago and no one on the island has seen him."

"If he had quit, I would've heard about it." Sophia responded as she brushed some hair over her shoulder. "Have you asked Chloe Richardson or Chelsea Cunningham? They stayed up to watch my duel against Kaiba."

"Yes ma'am, unfortunately after the duel they retired to their rooms, they didn't see anything." The guard responded and Sophia's frown deepened. "I've sent some men to check the CCTV footage."

"If they come back reporting four attractive women in various stages of undress, tell them that my duel woke them up and in the case of two of them, interrupted their sex." Sophia responded as she messaged her forehead in annoyance. "Other than that? Keep me updated and try to get back to me before the first session of the day at the earliest."

"Will do Ms. Pegasus." Thomas responded before hanging up and Sophia sighed.

"_First demonic possession and now a guard's gone missing."_ Sophia thought as she exited her office and headed to the restaurant. _"If I'm not an alcoholic by the end of the tournament, I'll be surprised!" _Sophia thought before a thought occured to her and she returned to her office, once the door was closed again Sophia hit speed dial and called one of the numbers. "Jade, have you gone off for breakfast yet?"

"Was just about too, still getting used to the different time zone." The Austrailian woman responded and Sophia nodded. "Can this wait? I'm starving."

"Join the club, but i'll make this as quick as I can." Sophia responded before clearing her throat. "Can you check if Claudio made any trips to Athens, Greece, around twenty years ago?"

"If your request is that strangely specific, I might just skip breakfast and grab a bite to eat before the session starts." Jade responded and Sophia shook her head. "Why are you..." Jade trailed off as realization hit her. "Is this about the Greek-Iranian girl your effectively babysitting because she's bi-polar? Ariana wasn't it?"

"Got it in one." Sophia nodded before sitting on her desk. "Don't tell anyone until you find something substantial, I've been trying to figure out what Claudio's connection is with Ariana but there's no chance he's been to her mother's restaurant or she went to the same school with one of his children, the ones who know who their daddy is."

"And you think Ariana's one of his illegitimate offspring?" Jade asked and Sophia nodded.

"Her bio states that she was the product of a one night stand, when I talked to Ariana's mother she explained that she was working as the Sous Chef for a restaurant in Athens at the time, not exactly his usual target." Sophia added before she went to leave the office. "Again, soon as you find anything, call me first."

"Will do." Jade responded before hanging up.

*in the restaurant*

By now breakfast was well underway and as opposed to how dinner was handled, breakfast was being done buffet style with the individual components of a standard breakfast ranging from cooked to cold being served in warm plates or bowls.

"I swear Lance, you're going to put Marcus's old eating habits to shame by the end of the tournament." Chloe laughed as she watched her boyfriend return to their table with a plate full of food. "Going through a seemingly endless tomb seems like something that makes you hungry."

"Nah, I'm just really hungry this morning." Lance shrugged his shoulders before he started eating his food and Chloe did likewise eating from her much more modest plate of food. "So, how goes the storyline with Amanda?"

"It's kinda weird to be honest." Chloe responded after she finished eating her food. "We haven't kissed since the incident in the tavern but in game, I'm definitely developing feelings for her, out of game?" Chloe added before briefly glancing over at the table were Amanda and Adrienne were eating their breakfast. "I just view her as a friend, hell I saw Amanda and Adrienne in nothing but their underwear last night and…."

"Wait, wait…..." Lance interrupted Chloe and she realized that the comment had almost made him choke on his sausage. "You saw Amanda and Adrienne in their lingerie last night?!"

"It was only brief, didn't really get a good look because they were behind me and Chelsea, but you know how Sophia's duel against Kaiba woke us up right?" Chloe asked and Lance nodded. "Well, whilst you went back to bed, I went to investigate, as I said, I wasn't alone as Chelsea got out of her room as well and Amanda and Adrienne joined us as their room was right next to the hallway were the duel was taking place." Chloe added before yawning a bit. "Long story short, they were in the middle of having sex when the duel spoiled the mood, in Amanda's own words she was this close to taking off Adrienne's bra, but the point is, I didn't feel aroused by the site of her in her underwear, for lack of better term."

"Your right, that is weird, and in hindsight I wish I had gotten out of bed as well." Lance nodded in agreement earning a mock glare from Chloe before he started eating again. "What happened next?"

"Once they knew what was going on, they returned to their room to pick up from where they left off, they were still going at it by the time me and Chelsea walked by their room which was about ten to four in the morning, no, I don't know how I'm as peppy as I am this morning before you ask." Chloe added as she shook her head. "I'll let you know if anything happens during the next session but until then, I'd rather eat my food before it goes cold."

"Agreed." Lance nodded before they resumed eating their food.

*elsewhere in the restaurant*

Chelsea was sitting alone in the corner of the restaurant and was taking her time with her breakfast, largely because she had other things on her mind.

"_Not only is my ex-girlfriend in my party but the pro-league duelist I sucker punched all those years ago is as well."_ Chelsea thought as she ate her cold breakfast. _"Only way this could be more awkward is if Beth had been invited and was in my party as well, probably in Felix's place, still things haven't been that awkward between us yet."_

"_It could be worse."_ Wattchimera responded without appearing next to her and Chelsea shook her head. _"You could've gotten Chloe's true love storyline."_

"_With who? Kylie? Felix? Ray? Kaiba?"_ Chelsea asked before shuddering slightly. _"I know Chloe and Lance has some kind of agreement in place with Amanda and Adrienne based on what she told me last night but I think I would've asked for a storyline change myself, doesn't help that Beth wasn't invited to the tournament but at least Amanda's in her late twenties, Kaiba's the oldest one in the group, Kylie's a little bit older than me, Felix is in a relationship with Karen Trayson last I heard and Ray….."_

"_Is standing right in front of you."_ Wattchimera interrupted her and Chelsea looked up seeing Ray in front of her holding a tray of food.

"Hey, is this seat taken?" Ray asked and Chelsea shook her head before inviting him to join her. "Hope things weren't too awkward in the virtual world."

"The only way it could be more awkward is if my current girlfriend was in the party as well." Chelsea shrugged her shoulders as Ray made himself comfy. "Can I be honest? I was hoping you wouldn't be in my party but for a different reason, I want to avenge my loss to you from that school tournament."

"I'm sure you'll get a chance." Ray nodded in understanding as they ate their food. "Where is your girlfriend anyway? I thought I heard she graduated alongside you?"

"She did, however her pro-league career was short, her anti-cure deck just couldn't compete." Chelsea explained with a frown before she finished her cereal. "She's taking up a teaching position at North Academy soon so it's not like her talents won't go to waste."

"That's good to hear, unfortunately slow decks like that do tend to get run over." Ray nodded in understanding as he continued eating. "If you don't mind, can I see a picture of your niece?"

"I did say I'd show you a picture, didn't I?" Chelsea nodded before digging out her iPhone from her pocket and going through the pictures. "This was taken after I won the Illinois Regionals the first time around." Chelsea explained as she showed Ray the picture. "Her name's Jasmine, she's turning four next June, my brother Chris surprised me with the news that I was going to be an aunt after I graduated."

"She's a cutie." Ray commented with a warm smile. "Guessing the hair colors from her mom?" Ray asked and Chelsea nodded before taking her phone back. "I have a niece as well but she's eighteen and in her second year at North Academy."

"Eighteen?" Chelsea asked with a look of surprise on her face as Ray looked to be barely older than she was, in fact to anyone who didn't know her they'd look like they were a couple. "How old are you exactly? Either your sibling conceived your niece when they were a teenager or your older than you look."

"Brother and no, I'm older than I look." Ray responded with a slight chuckle. "Truth be told. I turned forty just before the tournament."

"Damn, I hope I look that good when I'm your age." Chelsea laughed a bit before shaking her head. "Let me guess, Botox? Plastic Surgery?"

"Nah, my families always looked way younger than they actually are, my dad can pass for someone in their fifties just for example." Ray responded with a chuckle and Chelsea nodded. "I would say that you'd probably need that stuff when you're my age, but I don't feel like getting punched again."

"Even when I'm the Illinois Regional Champ, I still can't live that down." Chelsea grumbled under her breath before shaking her head. "To be blunt? I wouldn't have graduated from Duel Academy in the first place if I didn't learn to control my temper but that was only after I beat the crap out of another female student in retaliation for what she and her boytoys did to Nicola Hastings and even then, my siblings had to stage a rage intervention."

"Yeah, Katrina told me when I ran into her at that year's World Championships." Ray nodded grimly with some understanding. "She told me that she's a heavy sleeper so she missed most of the intervention, but I can imagine how ugly both incidents got."

"Ugly doesn't even begin to describe it." Chelsea sighed before taking a sip from her drink. "Come to think of it, I haven't seen her around."

"She was invited but had to decline, she's training for next year's Olympics and is deadest on winning the gold in Tie Kwon Do." Ray explained and Chelsea nodded in understanding. "Part of the problem with doing a combat sport and Duel Monsters at once I guess, how she's still the Chinese National Champion I don't know."

"Now I'm picturing a new version of duel monsters were the competitors throw punches at each other before each turn." Chelsea shook her head and Ray laughed. "I don't see it lasting long even if it does get past the planning stage, too much potential for lawsuits and all that but it's still a funny thought."

"True enough." Ray nodded in agreement and Chelsea grinned. "She did express regret that she won't get a rematch against you though after I told her that you were now the Illinois Regional Champion, based on what I've seen of your defenses it should be a better match than your initial duel against her."

"Well, if her deck's still anything like the one I faced, then I can't help but wonder what her deck master would've been, as for that rematch, tell her that she's free to pop bye Chicago at any time and I'll see if I can make it happen with our agents, setting up a duel like that isn't as simple as challenging the opponent and agreeing to a time and place these days." Chelsea admitted with a shrug and Ray nodded. "Speaking of Deck Masters, any ideas on what the session has in store for us?"

"More of the same I guess, though there is added pressure from having Kaiba in our party." Ray responded with a shrug and Chelsea nodded in agreement. "We'll take it as it goes, I guess."

"Yeah, I guess." Chelsea responded before they resumed eating their food.

*elsewhere in the dining hall*

"_Great, I spent so long on the phone to mom that I missed a chance to grab a table."_ Ariana thought as she glanced around the dining room with a plateful of hot food in her hands, the Greek-Iranian woman took one final look around before shaking her head and turning around. _"Will they mind if I eat my food in my room? I basically just grabbed the components to make a decent sausage sandwich so it's not like I'd need to use a knife and fork, I just need to assemble it and…"_

"Ariana, was it?" To Ariana's surprise Amanda's voice rang out and she looked up seeing the red-haired Canadian woman waving her over. "You want to join us?"

"Are you sure?" Ariana asked once the surprise wore off. "I wouldn't want to intrude."

"Don't worry about it." Adrienne assured her before the French Woman got up to get Ariana a chair. "Anyone can see that they seriously underestimated how many duelists were competing in the tournament when they planned the dining hall, promise I won't bite." Adrienne added once she returned and Ariana grinned.

"You know what? I'll take you up on that offer!" Ariana responded before she joined the lesbian couple at their table and set her plate down. "Thanks a lot, my feet were killing me, and I was actually considering sneaking off to my room."

"We tried that yesterday, the guards politely informed us that food wasn't allowed in the room, well, hot food anyway." Amanda explained and Ariana nodded before she started assembling her sandwich. "Before I forget, this is Adrienne, she's my girlfriend."

"And former French National Champion." Adrienne corrected her and Ariana grinned sheepishly. "This is your first major tournament, yes?"

"Pretty much, no thanks to my management company being run by an idiot." Ariana sighed and the two older women raised an eyebrow. "To make a long story short, I got signed to a large management company after I came in second at the Pennsylvania Regionals earlier this year, it wasn't until two months of inactivity passed that I realized that they were deliberately withholding invites to major tournaments from me, including Battle City."

"Your kidding?!" Amanda asked with a look of disgust on her face and Ariana shook her head. "That's wrong on so many levels, at least tell me you left their roster after finding out?"

"Couldn't leave the roster fast enough, I only got added to this tournament thanks to my current agent." Ariana explained before she took a bite out of her food. "It's another long story that I'd rather not get into but after I told Sophia yesterday, she got me on the Battle City roster, which is extra exciting for me because I haven't been back to Greece since I was four."

"I thought your accent sounded vaguely Greek." Adrienne nodded before taking a bite out of her food. "But at least that story has a happy ending, your family's going to sue the company, right?"

"If only that was an option, my mom's so busy running her restaurant that she's had no time to put a lawsuit together." Ariana explained before setting her sandwich down. "My stepdad's a lawyer but he's a criminal defense attorney, litigation isn't exactly his area of expertise though he has been talking to some of his colleagues about it since he found out."

"Want my advice? Definitely take those bastards to court." Amanda advised Ariana as she leaned forward. "The job of a management company is to guide the careers of duelists, especially young ones like you, at most you can get them for breach of contract but at the same time you might want to see what your dad thinks after he speaks to his colleagues." Amanda added before taking a sip from her drink. "Until then, at least we'll get to duel you at Battle City."

"I'm not sure how I'd do against a current and former National Champion, I had enough trouble with the reigning regional champion back home in Pennsylvania for Christ's Sake." Ariana responded as she shook her head. "Besides, I have seen you two duel, not in person but on DVD when you guys compete at Battle City, my deck's pretty simple compared to yours."

"Maybe but simple decks have beaten ours before." Adrienne assured her and Ariana grinned a bit. "Don't think there's too much time left before the start of the next session, so we'd better eat quickly."

"Agreed." Ariana nodded before the three women resumed eating their food, as Ariana finished her sandwich, she thought she heard the whispers again but brushed it off. _"Probably just the chatter from the other duelists, or at least I hope so."_

*later in the virtual world*

Once their food had settled down and they were back in the Virtual Pods the duelists were back in the Virtual World ready to continue their adventures, and for Chloe's group that meant a lot of awkwardness.

"_Not a lot has happened since I dueled the Black Knight yesterday." _Chloe thought as she leaned back, the party was currently going down a country road in a wagon being pulled by horses with Fran and Ricardo up front leaving her alone with Amanda in the back of the wagon, things were fairly cramped back there leaving the two women without much breathing room. _"Aside from me nearly having sex with another woman, at least things can't get more awkward right?" _Chloe thought as she glanced out the back of the wagon.

"So, Chloe." Amanda broke the silence after a few minutes and Chloe looked up. "Have you checked your guide since your duel yesterday?"

"Haven't had a chance too, what with all the moving around and all." Chloe explained before digging into her trouser pocket and skimming through the pages of her guide before she found the plot hook. "Still says that we're to defeat an ancient evil, would be nice if they told us what that ancient evil was." Chloe added before shaking her head. "Then again, we're only level one, I haven't played Dungeons and Dragons much, but I don't think we're equipped to deal with any ancient evils."

"True enough, hell we haven't even found a destiny orb yet and we know from the post session meeting that two have been found." Amanda added before the wagon started shaking. "Everything okay up there Ricardo?" Amanda called out and Ricardo poked his head into the back of the wagon.

"We just hit a bumpy road, shouldn't be too long before we're on a flat service again." Ricardo assured the two women who nodded before he returned his attention to the road. "Actually, scratch that, we've got some big bumps ahead."

"If they look manmade then maybe it's my father's men trying to slow us down." Chloe suggested and Amanda shook her head as the two women braced themselves for the bumps.

"I don't think they are that dedicated to their job, or at least I hope not." Amanda responded before they started hitting the big bumps, the first couple were fine but after a few the two women lost their balance and ended up with Amanda lying on her back and Chloe on top of her just as the bumps ended. "At least I'm getting a nice view."

"Yeah, I guess." Chloe responded with an awkward laugh as their hands went up and down their bodies, before Chloe even knew what was happening the two women started making out tongue and all, this lasted a good few minutes until Chloe had just taken her crop top off when…

"Sorry to interrupt you ladies but there's a storm coming in." Ricardo interrupted them and Chloe looked up. "I mean, I've never tried having sex in the back of a wagon whilst there's a storm brewing, but it doesn't even sound remotely romantic."

"Does your guide explicitly state "your quest is to interrupt the princess and the paladin each time they try to have sex"?" Amanda asked as the two women got off each other and Chloe quickly put her top back on. "Is there any shelter? Like a tavern or something."

"There is shelter." Fran chimed in as she brought the wagon to a stop. "But that depends on how you feel about big spooky castles in the middle of nowhere." Fran added and Chloe poked her head out from the wagon.

In front of the wagon was exactly as Fran had described, it was a large, foreboding castle that seemed to be long abandoned, there was a moat with a drawbridge around it but the water had dried up and the drawbridge was in such a state of disrepair that the chains holding it up had snapped off leaving it permanently open. "And I thought my questline alone was cliché." Chloe muttered under her breath as she shook her head. "Dark stormy night? Big, foreboding castle? Did Sophia hire the questline writers from a "Creative Writing for Beginners" class?"

"Based on what I heard from the other duelists, that wouldn't surprise me." Ricardo laughed in response before shaking his head. "I don't see anything else around so it's our best shot, and if there are other duelists in the castle, at least we won't have to duel them for rooms."

"Isn't that part of the fun though?" Amanda called out from the back and Ricardo shook his head before pulling the wagon into the castle, the inner courtyard was deserted but there was evidence that there were other duelists in the castle. "Another wagon with two horses in the stable." Amanda noticed as she got out of the wagon and helped Chloe out. "Seems someone else had the same idea."

"I know the unofficial rules state "don't split the party"." Ricardo added as he and Fran started pulling the wagon into the stables. "But we'd cover more ground this way, you guys go on ahead, we'll catch up once we've parked the wagon."

"And I swear, if we walk in on you two in the sixty nine position in one of the castle's rooms, we're leaving you behind." Fran added and Amanda and Chloe shook their heads before heading into the castle.

*a bit later*

By now the storm was raging outside the castle walls and the four duelists had split up to check it out on the off chance that this was important to their quest, and naturally Chloe and Amanda were alone together.

"Hey Amanda." Chloe said as the two women walked through the castle halls, the inside of the castle was about as far from romantic as it got with dust and cobwebs all over the place so neither woman was really in the mood to pick up from where they had left off in the wagon, they were currently on the second floor of the castle but it was clear that there was several more floors to go. "Did you talk with Adrienne about how the quest has been going so far? I know you two were seated together at breakfast."

"If you mean how weird it is that we're developing feelings for each other in the game world yet see each other as friends outside of the game world then yeah, I did bring that up." Amanda nodded in response as the red head glanced around. "Adrienne just shrugged it off as an effect of the Virtual Reality system, did you tell Lance?"

"I did, but that convo got derailed when I mentioned that seeing you and Adrienne in your underwear last night." Chloe admitted getting a laugh out of Amanda. "No prizes for guessing why, the main thing I took away from it was that he found it weird as well and wished that he hadn't gone straight back to bed."

"I'd like to say that I'm surprised by that but I'm not." Amanda chuckled before shaking her head. "Though I did notice that you were a little awkward during our make out session in the wagon."

"Was wondering when that would be brought up." Chloe sighed as she flicked her tail a bit. "It's not like I haven't had sex before either, lost my virginity to Lance when I was still in Duel Academy but since then I've only ever been with him, I think it's pretty much because I've never had sex with another woman, which is ironic since I had a lesbian roommate for most of my time at Duel Academy." Chloe added before shaking her head. "Chelsea actually asked me out once, during my first week at the academy, I was still convinced that I was straight instead of bi at the time, so I let her down gently."

"Guessing that's how you found out that she was gay?" Amanda asked and Chloe nodded somewhat sheepishly. "I've heard of worse ways to come out to your friend, and as for next time we have sex, don't worry, I'll guide you."

"Still doesn't take away how awkward it is that we'd be effectively cybering." Chloe responded with a grin but before Amanda could respond they heard a deathly wail coming from one of the rooms. "You heard that, right?"

"That was so loud that I'd be surprised if Ricardo and Fran didn't hear it." Amanda nodded before the wail rang out again. "It sounds like it's coming from this door."

"And I've suddenly got the Ghostbusters theme stuck in my head." Chloe admitted before she walked up to the door, seeing that there was a keyhole she knelt down and peaked through it. "It's a Duel Monster." Chloe added as she pulled away from the keyhole. "Looks like the Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams." (4/1300/1800).

"Not exactly a huge threat." Amanda commented as she shook her head, Chloe stood up and tried the door which opened with little resistance. "You sure about this Chloe?"

"Like you said, there are definitely worse Duel Monsters we can encounter." Chloe responded before pushing the door open, the room was a bedroom and, in the bed, lay a skeleton that was clearly long dead, above it floated the duel monster in question though it's back was turned to the two women. "Err, hello?" Chloe called out to the ghost, after a few seconds the ghost turned its head around without moving its body and before either woman could say anything it let out a terrifying screech causing Chloe to fall onto her rear end from shock. "Is this a bad time to admit that I've never seen The Exorcist?" Chloe gulped and Amanda shook her head.

"Really Chloe? You know that's a classic, right?" Amanda asked before the ghost lunged at them. "I summon Vylon Hept!" Amanda called out as the strange angel appeared on the field (4/1800/800). "Attack the Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams!" Amanda commanded and the angel launched its attack at the ghost destroying it. "Seriously, I'm having a chat with Lance about this when the session finishes." Amanda added before helping Chloe up.

"Chat all you want, just never been a fan of horror movies in general." Chloe responded as she shook her head once she had regained her composure. "Chelsea tried to get me to watch one of the Saw films whilst we were in Osiris Red one night, can't remember which one but I barely lasted twenty minutes before running to the bathroom to throw up."

"Okay, to be fair, she did throw you into the deep end by starting you with a Saw movie." Amanda admitted before shaking her head. "I thought she wasn't a fan of the Torture Porn type of Horror Movies anyway?"

"She isn't but wanted to check it out, morbid curiosity I guess." Chloe responded as she looked around the room. "Can't be a coincidence that we found a duel monster in this room, right?"

"I was just thinking the same thing." Amanda nodded as she glanced around the room. "Want to search it? If it makes you feel any better, I'll search around the bed."

"Skeletons I can handle, horror movies? Not so much." Chloe responded as she shook her head before noticing that Amanda hadn't let go off her hand. "So, you intend to search the bed one handed or something?"

"Huh?" Amanda asked before realizing what Chloe meant and let go off Chloe's hand. "Sorry, I guess I'm just so used to holding hands like that with another woman."

"The other woman being Adrienne, right?" Chloe asked and Amanda nodded. "Sure, you search around the bed, I'll see what's over here, away from the scary skeleton."

"Thought you said you can handle skeletons." Amanda teased her and Chloe stuck her tongue out playfully at Amanda. "Careful, I've had that in my mouth once today."

"That sounds wrong on so many different levels." Chloe laughed before they started searching the bedroom.

*elsewhere in the castle*

Whilst Chloe and Amanda were on the second floor Fran and Ricardo were looking around the bottom floor, however after finding mostly empty rooms and out of date food they decided to try one last door beneath the stairs that Chloe and Amanda had taken a few minutes earlier.

"Unlocked, looks like the locks been picked recently." Ricardo noticed as he walked up to the door. "Do you think the lovebirds went in here?"

"Chloe's a Sorcerer and Amanda's a Paladin." Fran responded as she shook her head as the Irish woman walked up to the door. "Neither class is really known for their lock picking skills, at least look through the keyhole."

"On it." Ricardo nodded before kneeling down to peak through the keyhole, after a few seconds he stood back up. "Didn't see anything but it looks like there's actually something interesting in there, mostly suits of armor from what I could see."

"Finally, I was starting to get bored." Fran responded with a grin before Ricardo opened the door, the door opened to a large and expansive room filled with paintings and suits of armor. "An art gallery?" Fran asked as the two duelists stepped into the room. "I was expecting to see many things in the Virtual World, an Art Gallery wasn't one of them."

"Still worth a look around, might get some loot at least." Ricardo shrugged his shoulders before closing the door behind him, once they were inside the two duelists got a better look at the paintings. "Looks like they are depicting a war, from when the castle was brand new."

"Is it me or does there seem to be a story to these paintings." Fran wondered as she looked at the paintings on one side of the wall, one painting depicted men in robes about to be decapitated by a swinging axe whilst the other depicted the aftermath of a large scale battle. "Also looks like some of these are out of place."

"You noticed that as well, huh?" A new voice rang out and from the shadows emerged a male duelist with short black hair that had a giant bang that had a grey highlight. "Let me guess, you guys got stuck here by the storm as well?"

"Yep, pretty much." Fran nodded before she walked up the younger duelist. "I'm Francesca Masters, he's Ricardo Diego." Fran introduced herself and Ricardo offered a friendly wave. "I don't think I've seen you around."

"I mostly keep to myself, name's Jason Hutchins." Jason introduced himself with a nod. "I went to Duel Academy and was in the same graduating class as Chloe Richardson, haven't had a chance to say hi because she's with her boyfriend most of the time."

"Well, you're in luck, Chloe's in our group." Ricardo nodded as he walked forward. "Her quest is a True Love storyline with Amanda Croteau, we split up to cover more ground, but we haven't seen them down here so I'm guessing they're upstairs." Ricardo added and Jason nodded.

"My girlfriend's in the tournament as well, haven't encountered her group though." Jason nodded before looking at the paintings. "Back on topic, these paintings do seem to tell a story, but I haven't been able to figure out the right order, so far the only one I've got right is that one." Jason added before pointing to the painting depicting the execution. "Seems to me that that painting is supposed to depict talks breaking down. Haven't been able to find the next one in the story though."

"Yeah, that makes sense." Ricardo nodded in agreement as he looked at the painting. "The one next to it seems to depict the war ending, maybe we should take that down."

"Sounds good to me." Fran nodded before she walked over to the painting and put her hands to the side of it, however before she could remove it a pair of ghostly hands grabbed onto her shoulders causing Fran to cry out in shock before falling on her rear end as a ghastly face emerged from the portrait. "Did I just get jump scared by The Portrait's Secret?!" Fran realized as she recognized the duel monster (4/1200/1500). "Phil's never letting me live this down!"

"Just be glad that it's a weak duel monster." Jason responded before he drew a card. "I summon Genex Ally Birdman!" Jason called out as the small bird like machine appeared on the field (3/1400/400). "Attack The Portrait's Secret!" Jason called out and the machine flew up to the ghost before slashing at it and destroying the ghost, as the spirit vanished the portrait returned to normal. "You okay Fran?"

"I'm fine, more embarrassed than anything else." Fran responded as she shook her head before Ricardo helped her up, she tried removing the painting again and this time it came down without incident. "If that's a coincidence then I'm moving to Scotland."

"So basically, watch what portrait's we grab?" Ricardo asked and Fran nodded, before he could say anything else, he saw a blade coming towards Jason. "Jason, behind you!" Ricardo called out and Jason ducked just in time for the sword to swing over his head, however Genex Ally Birdman wasn't so lucky as he was cut in two by the sword. "The Headless Knight? All that's missing is the Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams and we'd have two of the first three monsters Bakura used against Yugi in the original Battle City Finals."

"Huh?" Jason asked before looking up and seeing the Duel Monster pull his sword back for another strike (4/1450/1700), Jason quickly rolled out of the way before the sword could hit him and Fran drew a card.

"I summon Rare Metal Dragon!" Fran called out as she held the card up and the metallic dragon appeared on the field (4/2400/1200). "Attack The Headless Knight!" Francesca called out and the dragon rolled into a ball before slamming into the knight destroying the monster. "Okay, new plan, we keep our eyes open at all times, I'm in no hurry to experience death in the Virtual World."

"Agreed, at least your dragon will take care of any other Portrait's Secrets or Headless Knights." Jason nodded in agreement before thinking for a moment. "Also seems like summoning restrictions don't apply to duel monsters being summoned to defend ourselves, wonder if the same applies to monsters from the extra deck?"

"We'll figure that out later." Fran nodded in response before glancing at the paintings. "Let's figure out this puzzle first."

*back with Chloe and Amanda*

"I'm not seeing much on my end." Amanda called out to Chloe as she searched the room, she had even gone as far as to remove the mattress and the skeleton from the bed which Chloe had helped with, but it was no use. "What about you?"

"Nothing on my end." Chloe responded as she shook her head whilst searching through draws in front of a mirror. "Seems like this was a woman's bedroom at least, don't know many men with a desk like this." Chloe added and Amanda looked up.

"That seems to match up with the skeleton, looked too small to be a man's skeleton." Amanda nodded in agreement as the two women searched the room. "Maybe this was a coincidence?"

"The one bedroom we find has a duel monster in it? If that is a coincidence, I'm shaving my head in real life!" Chloe responded before she opened a draw which was when she saw something. "Amanda, over here!" Chloe called out to her companion and Amanda walked over to her, Chloe picked up the letter and held it up. "Not much but it's a start, right?"

"Hand it here, I'll read it and you can search through that chest over there." Amanda responded before pointing Chloe in the direction of the chest before realizing there was two. "Careful Chloe, one of those could be a mimic."

"Nothing we can't handle, right?" Chloe asked before she want to open the chest and too her surprise, she found it to be full of treasure. "Pity this isn't real life, me and Lance would be set for life!"

"Doubt it, otherwise you'd have to explain why you came back from Duelist Kingdom with a chest full of treasure, and good luck getting that on the ship without the guards calling foul." Amanda responded before Chloe yelped out in pain before pulling her hand back as the chest slammed down on it, looking down she realized that there was bite marks in her hand and realized what was dealing with.

"Amanda?" Chloe asked and Amanda looked up realizing that the chest was actually Man-Eating Treasure Chest (4/1600/1000). "Want me to deal with this one?" Chloe asked as she stood up and Amanda nodded.

"I dealt with the ghost, it's only fair." Amanda nodded and Chloe grinned before Amanda noticed Chloe favoring her hand. "Don't worry about your hand, a quick Lay on Hands should deal with it."

"Thanks." Chloe nodded before drawing a card. "I summon Neo, the Master Magic Swordsman!" Chloe called out as the blonde warrior appeared on the field (4/1700/1000). "Attack Man-Eating Treasure Chest!" Chloe commanded and the swordsman slashed at the fiend destroying it. "That was the designers first mistake." Chloe joked as the treasure chest vanished. "They stuck MAN Eating Treasure Chest in a room not knowing that two women were going to search it!"

"Sophia probably decided not to bother making a female version of an old Duel Monsters Card that barely anyone remembers." Amanda joked before they heard an evil laugh echo throughout the castle. "Our jokes weren't that funny!"

"Maybe we should get a move on." Chloe suggested before checking the other chest, to her relief it was a normal chest and in it was a single book marked "Evelyn's Diary". "Evelyn? You think that's the woman on the bed?"

"Looks like it, the letter is addressed to "My Dearest Evelyn", looks like she was a princess like your character." Amanda responded before frowning. "And you'll never guess who it's from."

"Lord Ravencraw?" Chloe asked and Amanda nodded. "We were brought here by a storm this can't be a coincidence."

"Maybe we'll get lucky." Amanda added before noticing the look Chloe was giving her. "And by get lucky I mean find our first destiny orb here, and not get laid."

"I was about to say, I'm not normally one to kink shame but having sex in the same room as a long dead woman?" Chloe asked jokingly and Amanda shook her head. "I think Chelsea would balk at that idea and she loves horror movies!"

"So would most people to be fair." Amanda nodded before putting the letter down. "For someone as evil as Ravencraw, his letters read like something from a romantic comedy, I should know, I make Adrienne sit through them every year on Valentine's Day."

"I do the same with Lance, I swear he's getting most of his romantic lines from them." Chloe responded with a laugh before she went through the diary, however she stopped at the last page and frowned. "Amanda, have a look at this."

"Hmmm?" Amanda asked before she walked over to Chloe and read the last entry. "Ravencraw is coming for me, I don't have long left, I hid the orbs at the top of the tower and in the art gallery, no matter what he does to me or my family, he will never find them." Amanda read the diary out loud and frowned. "Is there another entry?"

"Next page is covered in dry blood, after that? Nothing." Chloe responded before glancing around. "We saw a tower on the way in but that was far away from this room wasn't it?"

"Maybe there's a secret passage or something." Amanda responded before checking the stones in the wall, after twenty minutes of searching the stone went in and the wall pulled back revealing a tunnel. "Princesses first."

"Thanks." Chloe responded with a nervous grin before they went into the tunnel.

*back with the other group*

Whilst Chloe and Amanda had managed to figure out their solution easily enough the same couldn't be said for the trio downstairs.

"No, no, the peace treat goes after the epic battle!" Ricardo argued with Fran as she went to put a painting up in one of the two remaining slots in the art gallery whilst Jason watched on with a facepalm. "Why would it be the other way around?!"

"Because maybe that's what they want you to think?" Fran suggested as she held up the painting that was currently holding. "The last few times we got the order wrong more monsters attacked us! And I'll be happy if I go the rest of my life without ever seeing a Headless Knight or Portrait's Secret ever again!"

"Then why are you experimenting with reverse psychology?!" Ricardo protested before Jason finally had enough and cleared his throat.

"Look, we've been arguing about this for so long that I wouldn't be surprised if the session was about to end." Jason said with a look of annoyance on his face. "Surely there's a quicker way of resolving this!"

"Are you suggesting that we duel?" Fran asked and Jason face-faulted.

"You've been on the pro-leagues longer than me! You should know that a duel can take hours!" Jason responded and Fran went to argue his point but couldn't find the words. "How about we just have a game of rock paper scissors and leave it at that?"

"Fine!" The two older pro-leaguers said simultaneously before they launched into a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, much to Jason's relief the argument was settled after one round with Fran as the victor.

"I know we're babysitting a lesbian couple but that doesn't change the fact that scissors beat paper." Fran commented with a grin as she made the snip motion with her fingers. "Now, make yourself useful and follow my lead!"

"If another Duel Monster attacks us, don't say I didn't tell you so!" Ricardo retorted before he put the painting up on the wall and Fran did likewise, the three duelists waited a few seconds before finally the wall on the far side of the room slid open and Fran grinned. "You ever hear what they say about a broken clock?"

"If you don't shut up, that clock won't be the only thing broken." Fran warned him and Ricardo gulped before quickly shutting up, however their spirits were quickly lifted when they saw a destiny orb atop a podium. "And that looks like a destiny orb to me! And since I was right, I'll go ahead and grab it, if you boys don't mind."

"Ladies first." Jason shrugged his shoulders in response and before Ricardo could protest Fran went into the hidden room and reached for the orb, however Ricardo spotted a figure reaching for a sword as Fran's hand neared the orb.

"Fran, get down!" Ricardo called out to her and Fran saw the sword just in time to jump out of the way, the figure emerged from the shadows and it didn't take them long to recognize it as a Duel Monster.

"Who dares intrude into my castle?" The Earl of Demise demanded as he pointed his sword at the three duelist (5/2000/700). "Speak now before I cut you down!"

"We dare, and we'll be taking that destiny orb!" Fran responded before noticing a duel disk on the Earl's arm. "Or one of us can duel you for it!"

"Very well." The Earl nodded before glancing over the three duelists. "The dark skinned male will do nicely!"

"_I'm going to give I2 the benefit of a doubt here and say that they didn't mean that to sound nearly as racist as it did." _Ricardo thought as he pushed his way to the front of the group. "That's fine by me amigo! Let's do this!" Ricardo responded with a grin as they activated their duel disks.

*back with Chloe and Amanda*

It had taken the pair a good chunk of time, but Chloe and Amanda had reached the end of the secret passage from Evelyn's room, after a few minutes of feeling around Amanda found the hidden switch and pushed it causing the wall to slide open.

On the other side of the wall was something that neither Chloe or Amanda expected to find as it was the only bedroom in the whole castle that looked decently kept, on one side of the room was a queen sized double bed but around it there was several desks and chairs and the thing that drew their attention the most was in the middle of the room. "A destiny orb!" Chloe exclaimed as she ran into the room. "One down nineteen to go."

"Watch yourself Chloe." Amanda warned the shorter woman as she walked into the room. "This seems to easy, almost like they want us to find it."

"Who goes there?" A ghostly female voice rang out and Chloe stopped in her tracks before turning to the bed which was where the source of the voice had come from, a female ghostly figure emerged from the bed and floated over to the two women. "Please leave this place, Ravencraw will be here soon."

"Were…...I mean are you being pursued by Lord Ravencraw?" Chloe asked and the ghost woman nodded before she landed on the ground, when she did Chloe and Amanda did double takes as she was the splitting image of Chloe, albeit with longer hair. "Are you Evelyn?"

"Yes, my father has married me off to an awful man, he only seeks to claim my destiny orbs." Evelyn responded and Chloe shared a look with Amanda. "He has already claimed my sister's life, she lies dead in my room."

"Your sister?" Chloe and Amanda asked simultaneously before glancing back to the passage they had emerged from.

"I'm sorry we couldn't get here sooner Evelyn, but your sister's spirit had turned hostile, we had to put her down." Amanda apologized to the ghost who lowered her head. "Look, Chloe is being pursued by Ravencraw as well, we need that destiny orb."

"If you want it, you will duel me for it." Evelyn responded as a transparent duel disk appeared on her arm. "Or you will leave, simple as that."

"I'll take it from here Chloe." Amanda responded as she stepped forward. "You dueled yesterday so it's only right that I get a chance."

"Just one question before you two get started." Chloe chimed in and the ghost turned to her. "Why was your sister in your room in the first place?"

"My sister and I are twins I am the oldest, but our servants often confuse us." Evelyn explained and Chloe nodded. "When Ravencraw announced his intention to marry me we both knew what he really wanted so we devised a scheme, she would pose as me in my room and I would hide up here." Evelyn added before closing her eyes sadly. "Somehow he saw through the disguise, for the next few hours, all I could here was Samantha begging him to stop and her screams." Evelyn added before shedding a tear. "And then, there was silence, the last thing I remember is Ravencraw entering via the same passage you entered through."

"_Never thought I'd feel sorry for what is essentially a bunch of code." _Amanda thought as she lowered her head sadly. "If Ravencraw found this room, how is the destiny orb still here."

"This castle holds many secrets and I was able to hide it in a secret compartment." Evelyn explained as she raised her head. "My servants hid the other destiny orb in the art gallery, now may we begin?"

"We may." Amanda nodded before the deck master selection screen appeared in front of her. "My deck master is Dunames Dark Witch!" Amanda called out as the fairy type monster appeared on the field (4/1800/1050). "Make your choice Evelyn."

"My deck master is Witch of the Black Forrest." Evelyn announced much to the surprise of the two women as the infamous female Spellcaster appeared on the field (4/1100/1200).

"Amanda, didn't that monsters effect get changed before the tournament?" Chloe whispered to Amanda who nodded.

"Yeah, can't remember the exact wording though." Amanda nodded as Chloe made herself comfortable. "The announcement said that it won't come into play until after the World Championships though so I guess we can worry aboot that later." Amanda added before the Canadian woman turned to face her opponent. "I'm ready when you are Evelyn." Amanda added before they drew their cards.

"_I would ask how a ghost is holding Duel Monster Cards but it's probably easier if I don't think about it too hard." _Chloe thought as she watched them go over their hands. _"I wonder how the others are doing?"_

*back at Ricardo's duel*

"Just so we're clear about this, I, the Earl of Demise, shall serve as my own deck master." The Earl of Demise announced, and Ricardo nodded before the deck master database appeared in front of him. "Now chose your deck master."

"With pleasure." Ricardo nodded before he went over the deck master list. _"Earl of Demise is a level five card, that gives me a pretty decent selection if I do say so myself." _Ricardo thought before making his choice. "Well, this tournament is taking place on Duelist Kingdom, why not use a card that dates back to the original tournament? My deck master is Axe Raider!" Ricardo announced as Axe Raider appeared next to him ready for battle (4/1700/1150). "So, who's going first?"

"I am!" The Earl responded before he went over his hand. "I set two cards facedown." The Earl announced as the two facedown cards appeared on the field. "And I end my turn."

"No monsters huh?" Ricardo asked as he drew his card. "To bad for you! I summon Heroic Challenger – Spartan!" Ricardo announced as he played the card and the Spartan Warrior appeared on the field ready for battle (4/1600/1000). "Let get this show on the road! Heroic Challenger – Spartan, attack the Earl's life-points directly!" Ricardo commanded and the spartan warrior charged into battle.

"Fool, that was exactly what I wanted you to do! I activate my Trap Card Ghostrick in a Box!" The Earl announced catching the other duelists off guard in the process as the trap card flipped up depicting Ghostrick Specter emerging from a Jack in a Box. "Since you declared a direct attack this trap card will not only negate the attack but allow me to set a Ghostrick Monster from my hand regardless of level." The Earl added as the facedown monster appeared on the field. "Better luck next time."

"_Ghostrick? Been a while since I've seen that deck in action." _Ricardo thought as Heroic Challenger – Spartan returned to his side of the field. _"I know there was some Ghostrick support in that new set I2 released before the tournament was announced but I didn't think it was enough to bring that archetype out of obscurity." _Ricardo thought before picking up two cards. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

"Excellent!" The Earl responded with a grin before drawing his card, before he even looked at the card however he activated his other trap card depicting a castle not unlike the castle they were currently in though it was pitch black, looked brand new and was surrounded by Ghostrick monsters. "I activate Ghostrick Palace! Now whenever I flip summon a Ghostrick monster you have to mill cards equal to that monster's level!"

"_A Ghostrick Mill Deck?" _Ricardo thought with a frown as he stared at the trap card. _"I guess that's one way to deal with a faster deck like mine, problem there is, can he mill me before I wipe out his life points?"_

"Now activate Spellbook inside the Pot! We will now draw three cards each." The Earl announced as he played the card and both duelists drew three cards. "Next, I flip summon my facedown monster, Ghostrick Mummy!" The Earl announced as the monster appeared on the field and the cartoonish mummy got ready for battle (3/1500/0). "First, you mill three cards thanks to my palace's effect." The Earl added and Ricardo said nothing as he milled the three cards. "And now for Ghostrick Mummy's effect, in addition to my normal summon I can normal summon an additional Ghostrick monster, so I set these two monsters in defense mode."

"_So much for speed." _Ricardo thought as the two facedown monsters appeared on the field. _"Unless he speeds things up somehow this duel will still be going on by the time the session ends!"_

"But I won't keep you in suspense." The Earl added before playing a card. "I activate not one but two Books of Taiyou to flip summon the two Ghostrick Monsters I just set! Ghostrick Jiangshi and Ghostrick Skeleton!" The Earl added as the two monsters appeared on the field, one being a seemingly innocent child (3/600/1800) and the other being a cartoonish version of the Grim Reaper (3/1100/1200). "This triggers both my trap card and my deck master ability."

"_Because of course it does." _Ricardo thought as he milled an additional six cars. "What's your deck master ability?"

"I'm glad you asked! When a Trap Card's effect is triggered at least twice in the same turn, I get to draw a card." The Earl responded before drawing a card. "And if it's a trap card, I can immediately set it and draw another card! Now before you complain about how broken that is, I can only do that once per turn, it just so happens that I drew a trap card." The Earl added before setting the card he had drawn and drawing another card. "Next, Jiangshi's effect activates! This allows me to add another Ghostrick Monster from my deck to my hand." The Earl added before he started inputting commands into his duel disk.

"_I'll give the guys at I2 credit for giving this guy an effective deck using an outdated archetype." _Ricardo thought as The Earl added the card to his hand. _"But that's where my praise ends."_

"And now my Skeleton's effect activates, forcing you to banish cards from the top of your deck facedown up to the number of Ghostrick Monsters I control." The earl added and Ricardo frowned before pocketing the top three cards of his deck. "And finally, I trigger the effects of Skeleton and Jiangshi to flip them both facedown!" The Earl added before the monsters vanished from the field. "So, what do you think of my strategy? Before long, you won't have any cards left!" The Earl added before letting out a maniacal laugh.

"You've made a big mistake, that's what I think!" Ricardo responded and The Earl stopped laughing abruptly. "Namely by leaving Ghostrick Mummy in attack mode! All Ghostrick Monsters can flip facedown and whilst Spartan can't attack over Jiangshi's defense points, I have plenty of monsters that can!"

"Your bluffing!" The Earl retorted as he pointed his sword at Ricardo. "You must be!"

"Don't take my word for it! Because it's my move if that's all you've got!" Ricardo added and the Earl nodded before Ricardo drew his card. _"I wonder how the girls are doing upstairs?"_

*back at Amanda's duel*

"I will go first, if that's okay with you." Evelyn requested and Amanda nodded before Evelyn looked over her hand. "I set two cards facedown and I summon Ghost Maiden – Isabelle in attack mode." Evelyn announced as she played the cards and a ghostly girl, around eleven or twelve by Chloe and Amanda's estimates, appeared on the field not so much ready for battle as she was looking around confused (1/0/0). "That ends my turn."

"_A custom archetype and leaving a monster with zero defense points on the field in attack mode? If this isn't tied to her backstory, I'm eating my duel disk!" _Amanda thought before drawing her card and adding it to her hand, one quick glance over her hand later and Amanda picked up three cards. "I set two cards facedown as well, and I summon Vylon Soldier!" Amanda announced as she played the card and a strange angel appeared on the field that was white and gold in color (4/1700/1000). "I almost feel bad for doing this, but I have a duel to win! I activate Mage Power!"

"I know what does." Evelynn nodded as Vylon Soldier glowed. "It increases your monster's attack points by five hundred for each Spell/Trap Card you control." Evelyn added as Vylon Soldier's attack points went up to 3200.

"Amanda, I'm not usually one for backseat dueling." Chloe chimed in as she looked over the field and Amanda glanced over her shoulder at Chloe. "But she seems awfully calm for someone who's about to take over three thousand points of damage."

"Glad I wasn't the only one thinking that." Amanda nodded before turning her attention back to Evelyn. "But I'm not about to pass up an early lead! Vylon Soldier, attack Ghost Maiden – Isabelle!" Amanda commanded and the monster charged towards the ghostly girl…

"I activate my Trap Card, Ghost Maiden's Slumber." Evelyn responded as her trap card flipped up depicting a ghostly woman asleep above a bed and before Amanda had time to react Ghost Maiden – Isabelle disappeared from the field just before Vylon Soldier's blade could make contact. "As you declared an attack on a Ghost Maiden this trap card negates the attack and removes the monster from play for the rest of the turn."

"_Negate Attack and Interdimensional Matter Transporter in one card?" _Amanda thought as Vylon Soldier returned to her side of the field. _"There has to be more to this! This Tournament may be taking place on Duelist Kingdom but I2 has learned a lot from it's mistakes from the early days of the game."_

"This triggers Ghost Maiden – Isabella's effect, when she is removed from play after being summoned, I can search my deck for another Ghost Maiden and add it to my hand." Evelyn explained before she picked up her deck and started searching through it. "This is the fate of all of Lord Ravencraw's victims."

"What do you mean?" Amanda asked with a confused look on her face and Evelyn lowered her head.

"Those who suffer violent deaths cannot pass on to the afterlife, instead they are doomed to haunt their homes until they are defeated, or the perpetrator is brought to justice." Evelyn explained and Amanda couldn't help but notice how uncomfortable Chloe looked upon learning that. "Isabelle for example was the daughter of one of my servants but we loved to play with her, until a bad man kidnapped her from her home one day and she was never seen again."

"_I know this isn't real, but I dread to think of what that poor girl went through." _Amanda thought as she lowered her head sadly. "Come to think of it, where was your father when Lord Ravencraw was doing those horrible things to you and your sister?"

"He was murdered when he refused the marriage contract." Evelyn responded sadly as she lowered her head. "He now patrols the lower floors of the castle as a Duel Monster not unlike my sister, I believe he's taken the form of the Earl of Demise."

"_I was expecting a few things from this tournament, feeling sorry for cards that date back to the early days of Duel Monsters was not one of them." _Amanda thought before raising her head. "I'm sorry you went through that Evelyn and it will be my pleasure to help you pass on to the afterlife, I end my turn." Amanda added as she wiped away a tear and Evelyn drew her card. _"Adrienne will probably say that I'm being too emotional when I tell her about this, then again she never was a fan of the sloppy stuff." _Amanda thought as Isabelle returned to the field.

"Now I activate my other facedown card, Wandering the Halls." Evelyn announced as her facedown card flipped up depicting a ghostly woman wondering down a long hallway alone. "As I control a Ghost Maiden monster, I can Special Summon another from my hand, however I can only summon Ghost Maiden monsters for the rest of the turn if I use this trap card." Evelynn added before picking up the card she had retrieved with Isabelle's effect. "I special summon Ghost Maiden – Samantha in defense mode."

"_Samantha? Wasn't that the name of Evelynn's sister?" _Chloe thought as another ghostly girl appeared on the field though this one appeared to be in her late teens (4/1000/500). "Is that card based on your sister?"

"Correct." Evelynn nodded as she turned her attention to Chloe. "You dealt with her spirit in my room and I thank you for making sure that my sister can pass on to the afterlife, that said, she still lives on through my cards." Evelynn added before turning her attention back to Amanda. "I activate Witch of the Black Forrest's Deck Master Ability, as I control at least two Spellcaster monsters of different levels on my side of the field, I can treat the weakest one as a tuner monster for the rest of the turn."

"Spellcaster?" Amanda asked with a raised eyebrow as Isabelle started glowing. "Don't take this the wrong way but I thought based on the backstory of these cards that they were Zombie Type Monsters?"

"Oh no, there is another duelist in the castle who specializes in Zombie Type Monsters, she lives on the third floor but unlike me and the Earl, she does not guard a Destiny Orb." Evelynn responded as she shook her head before motioning to the other ghost girls. "Now that Isabelle is a Tuner Monster, I will now tune my two monsters together." Evelynn announced as the two ghost girls floated above the field to take part in the Synchro Summon.

However, what happened next was something that neither Chloe nor Amanda was expecting, rather than bright flash that usually accompanied a Synchro Summon Isabelle and Samantha simply vanished and Evelynn floated onto the field before producing a ghostly sword from out of nowhere. "What the?" Chloe and Amanda asked simultaneously as Evelynn looked up at them.

"I Synchro Summon myself, Ghost Maiden – Evelynn." Evelynn announced as she pointed her sword at Amanda (5/2500/1200). "I suppose you have a few questions."

"You can say that again." Amanda responded as she scratched her head, not helping matters was the fact that Witch of the Black Forrest was still on the field. "From what I heard from other duelists, whenever a Duel Monster took part in a duel they served as the Deck Master, yet you're a duel monster and Witch of the Black Forrest is your Deck Master?"

"I do not have the strength to be a Deck Master." Evelynn responded as she lowered her head. "None of the Ghost Maidens do, even if you destroy my monster form, I will continue the duel as a duelist."

"_Just when I thought the Deck Master Rule couldn't get more confusing, might have to ask Sophia about this after the session." _Amanda thought with a frown before folding her arms. "Your Duel Monster form is strong Evelynn but your forgetting one thing, Vylon Soldier has Mage Power equipped and with three Spell/Trap Cards on my side of the field my soldier is stronger than you."

"I haven't forgotten, which is why I destroy Mage Power with Mystical Space Typhoon." Evelynn responded as she played the card and a storm washed over the field.

"I don't think so! I activate my Armory Protector Trap Card!" Amanda responded as her trap card flipped up. "It doesn't work on cards that destroy more than one Spell/Trap Card but what it does do is protect my Equip Spells from being destroyed by a Card Effect." Amanda added before grinning. "Nice try Evelynn but you're not getting past Vylon Soldier that easily."

"Unfortunately, I have to disagree, I activate Ghost Maiden – Samantha's effect from my graveyard." Evelynn responded as she held up the card that depicted her sister's ghost. "With this I can negate the activation of a Spell/Trap Card and destroy it as long as I control a Ghost Maiden Monster." Evelynn added and Amanda's eyes widened as both Mage Power and Armory Protector shattered reducing Vylon Soldier back to its original attack points. "Not as strong now, is he? I attack Vylon Soldier!" Evelynn announced as she lunged forward and slashed Vylon Soldier across the chest.

"_Pretty sure I'll regard this as one of my weirdest duels ever if I ever write an autobiography." _Amanda thought as her life-points dropped to 7200. "Anything else?"

"I end my turn." Evelynn responded and Amanda drew her card, as she did however Evelynn lowered her head. "It seems my father's spirit is in combat with a friend of yours, the dark skinned one with black hair."

"Ricardo?" Amanda asked and Evelynn nodded. _"Given that it's highly unlikely that Spain exists in the Virtual World, I doubt that was meant to sound racist, still I can't help but wonder how Ricardo's doing against Evelynn's father."_

"back at Ricardo's duel*

"You want to mill me out so bad? Well, your going to have to hope that I don't drop your life-points to zero first!" Ricardo taunted The Earl before quickly checking his graveyard, once he had gone through all the cards in the graveyard Ricardo grinned before activating one of his facedown cards. "I activate Call of the Haunted and I use this Trap Card to bring back one of the monsters you just made me mill, Heroic Challenger – Assault Halberd!" Ricardo announced as he played the card and a man in black armor wielding a halberd appeared on the field (4/1800/200). "And this guy's gonna blow a hole in your strategy!"

"How exactly do you plan to do that with two monsters that can't attack over Jiangshi?" The Earl scoffed and Ricardo grinned.

"Well for one thing, your Skeleton's defense points are lower than Assault Herberd's attack points, oh and there's also the fact that Assault Halberd inflicts piercing damage." Ricardo responded and The Earl's eyes widened as Ricardo pointed to the facedown monster on the right. "Heroic Challenger – Assault Halberd, attack Ghostrick Skeleton!" Ricardo commanded and Assault Halberd charged into battle before skewering Ghostrick Skeleton destroying it and bringing The Earl's life-points down to 7200. "And I'm not done, or didn't you notice that you left Ghostrick Mummy in attack mode?"

"I did notice, because I wanted you to damage my life-points! From my hand, I activate the effect of Ghostrick Mary!" The Earl responded before he held up the monster card. "How this monster works is simple, when I take damage, I can discard this card from my hand and Special Summon a Ghostrick Monster from my deck in defense mode!" The Earl added before he discarded the card and subsequently started shuffling his deck. "And don't forget, since Ghostrick Skeleton was flipped face-up when you attacked it, the effect of Ghostrick Palace activated!"

"I didn't forget, I just realized that Mary's effect would go first on the chain." Ricardo nodded before milling an extra three cards. "Fortunately for your newly summoned monster, Spartan doesn't share Assault Halberd's effect! Unfortunately for you, Ghostrick Mummy is still in attack mode! Heroic Challenger – Spartan, attack Ghostrick Mummy!" Ricardo commanded and the Spartan Warrior charged into battle.

"Or so you think! From my hand, I activate the Quick Play Spell Card Book of Moon! With this I flip Ghostrick Mummy back into defense mode!" The Earl responded as he played the card and the mummy disappeared from the field, it reappeared seconds later just in time to get slashed by Spartan. "I take no damage and you have to mill two cards."

"Fine by me." Ricardo responded before he milled two cards. "But you still have a long way to go before you completely mill me out! I end my turn." Ricardo announced and The Earl drew his card.

"I don't get it." Jason commented as he scratched his head and Francesca turned to him. "Why wouldn't he use Ghostrick Mummy's effect to flip it facedown to begin with? If he has a third copy of Book of Taiyou he could've used that in combination with Book of Moon to make Ricardo mill more cards and protect his life-points."

"Do you always give the enemy advice?" Fran asked and Jason sweat-dropped with a nervous laugh. "Then again. I was wondering the same thing, maybe he just forgot? I've been a pro-leaguer since my late teens, and I'd be lying if I said that I didn't still make the occasional misplay!"

"_I was thinking the same thing, just didn't want to say it out loud." _Ricardo thought as The Earl went over his hand. _"Because otherwise? This guy has shown himself to be a competent duelist at the very least, I'd give him some pointers if he was a real person and not a Duel Monsters card brought to life by a Virtual Reality system."_

"If you two have stopped bickering over there, it's my move!" The Earl responded before picking up a card. "And it starts with the Spell Card Terra-Forming! I use this to add a Field Spell from my deck to my hand!" The Earl added before he started searching through his deck, once he found the card that he was looking for he added it to his hand, let his deck auto shuffle and wasted no time in playing it. "And now, I activate it! Go Ghostrick Parade!"

"_I thought so." _Ricardo thought as the scenery changed from the art gallery to a large Victorian style house. _"No Ghostrick Mill Deck would be complete without this Field Spell."_

"From now on, you cannot target my facedown monsters for attacks, however you can attack me directly!" The Earl explained as Ricardo folded his arms. "But only if all the monsters I control are facedown! Now, you won't take any damage from this point onwards but when you do declare a direct attack, I can add one Ghostrick Monster from my deck to my hand." The Earl added before smirking. "My plan is foolproof! You won't get through to my life-points and this duel will be mine."

"Is it?" Ricardo asked with a grin and The Earl's grin disappeared. "Here's some math for you, Heroic Challenger – Spartan has sixteen hundred attack points, Heroic Challenger – Assault Halberd has eighteen hundred attack points, unless your facedown card is one that prevents direct attacks, your going to be taking thirty four hundred attack points of damage each turn and that's life I don't decide to bring out some of the monsters in my extra deck!"

"What does it matter?" The Earl asked as he glared at Ricardo. "I still have most of my life-points left."

"But for how long?" Ricardo asked giving The Earl pause. "Your life-points are at seventy two hundred, I don't need to be a mathematician to tell you that without adequate protection for your life-points, this duel won't last much longer!"

"Just try! I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn." The Earl announced and Ricardo drew his card.

"He just made another mistake." Jason realized as he looked over the field. "He didn't flip summon Jiangshi when he had the opportunity."

"Right, and with the Ghostrick Archetype's universal effect, he could've easily flipped it back into defense mode once his card's effects resolved." Fran nodded once she realized what Jason meant. "Seems to me that Ricardo's taunts distracted him, whether that was intentional or not is another question."

"I refuse to confirm or deny trying to distract my opponent with some basic math." Ricardo responded as a large sweat-drop rolled down the back of his head. "But if that wasn't intentional, it's worked in my favor! I activate Mystical Space Typhoon to destroy your facedown card!"

"No! Not Wall of Revealing Light!" The Earl called out as a storm washed over the field destroying The Earl's set Trap Card. "You will pay for that!"

"I'll send you an IOU Card, next I summon Heroic Challenger – Double Lance!" Ricardo announced as he played the card and a man in silver and blue armor wielding a lance appeared on the field (4/1700/900). "You like playing around with monsters in defense mode amigo? So, do I! When Heroic Challenger – Double Lance is normal summoned, I can Special Summon another Double Lance from my hand or graveyard in face-up defense position." Ricardo added as he retrieved a monster from his graveyard and another Double Lance appeared on the field. "And I think it's about time that I used my Deck Master's Ability!"

"Bah, what could a Barbarian like Axe Raider hope to accomplish against me?!" The Earl scoffed as Ricardo retrieved the cards from his graveyard.

"Quite a lot actually, when I Special Summon a Level Four or Lower Warrior Type Monster with more than five hundred defense points from my graveyard, I can Special Summon another monster with its effects negated! I summon Heroic Challenger – Extra Sword!" Ricardo explained as he played the card and a man in gold and silver armor wielding twin swords appeared on the field (4/1000/1000). "Don't get too attached to my two new guys because they won't be around much longer! First, I'm using both Heroic Challenger – Double Lances to build the Overlay Network."

"An XYZ Summon? Bring it! I can take whatever you throw at me!" The Earl responded cockily as the Overlay Portal opened and Double Lance and Extra Sword were sucked in.

"I wouldn't be so sure about that! I XYZ Summon Heroic Champion – Excalibur!" Ricardo announced as he played the card and from the portal emerged a tall man in red, black and silver armor wielding a large sword (Rank: 4/2000/2000). "And guess what Earl? I'm not done, I activate Excalibur's effect, detaching both Overlay Units to double its original attack power!" Ricardo added as he detached both Overlay Units from Excalibur and his monster's attack power doubled to four thousand. "But wait, there's more!"

"More?" The Earl asked with a nervous gulp as Ricardo motioned to his other monsters.

"I did warn you about the other monsters in my extra deck! This time, I use Extra Sword and Spartan to build the Overlay Network!" Ricardo added as the portal opened again and the two warriors were sucked in. "I XYZ Summon Heroic Champion – Gandiva!" Ricardo announced as he played the card and from the portal emerged a horseman in armor wielding a sword (Rank: 4/2100/1800). "And when Extra Sword is used for an XYZ Summon the monster he's attached too gets a thousand attack points." Ricardo added as Gandiva's attack points went up to 3100. "Here's some more math for you, my monsters have a combined attack power of 7800 so unless you have a card that will make me mill every remaining card in my deck and end my turn, this duel is mine!"

"Yes, I see that." The Earl nodded as he lowered his head. "Thank you, young man, with this defeat I can finally move on to the afterlife, I only hope my daughters can do the same."

"Daughters?" Ricardo asked with a confused look on his face and The Earl nodded.

"My twin daughters Evelynn and Samantha were murdered by Lord Ravencraw but not before he did terrible things to them." The Earl explained and Ricardo raised an eyebrow. "They are upstairs on the second floor. However, Samantha took the form of a hostile Duel Monster known as the Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams and like me, Evelynn will have to be defeated in a duel."

"_If that's where Chloe and Amanda headed off too, I wouldn't be surprised if they have the situation well in hand." _Ricardo thought before nodding solemnly. "You will be with your daughters soon amigo, Excalibur, Gandiva, Assault Halberd, finish him off!" Ricardo commanded and the three monsters charged into battle before slashing The Earl of Demise bringing his life-points down to zero, as the holograms disappeared alongside The Earl Fran and Jason walked up to Ricardo. "Is it weird that I felt bad for him?"

"It is weird to feel sorry for what's essentially a bunch of code." Fran nodded as she walked up to the Spanish Duelist. "But based on what we know about Lord Ravencraw, then this is all the more reason why we can't let Chloe's character marry him."

"Somehow I doubt Chloe will disagree." Jason nodded before the ping went off indicating that they had defeated a boss. "I don't see any other obstacles, so I think we're in the clear to grab that destiny orb." Jason added and Fran nodded in agreement before grabbing the destiny orb.

*back at Amanda's duel*

As Amanda went over her hand Evelynn's head snapped up suddenly before she closed her eyes solemnly.

"It appears father has been defeated." Evelynn stated with a sad sigh as she opened her eyes again. "I would love to surrender the duel and join him, but I cannot, for my spirit to join him in the afterlife, I have to be defeated in battle and surrender is not an option."

"In that case, I'll happily send you on your way!" Amanda responded before she picked up a card. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

"I hope you can, I have been confined to this castle for far too long." Evelynn nodded in response before she looked at her drawn card and played it. "I activate The Maiden's Apparition." Evelynn announced as she played the card which depicted Ghost Maiden – Isabelle floating through a castle wall. "I give up my chance to attack on my next turn but in exchange, I gain the ability to inflict piercing damage and attack as many times I wish on this turn, starting with your facedown monster."

"_This is going to hurt in the morning." _Amanda thought as Evelynn charged towards Amanda's facedown Shining Angel (4/1400/800) which she quickly destroyed bringing Amanda's life-points down to 5500. "I use Shining Angel's effect to summon a second copy from my deck." Amanda announced as the second Shining Angel appeared on the field. "It's not often I get to say this but since my Angel's in attack mode, I'll lose less life-points on your next attack."

"Very well, I will continue my attack." Evelynn responded before she slashed at the second Shining Angel bringing Amanda's life-points down to 4400. "Summon as many monsters as you want." Evelynn added as Amanda's third and final Shining Angel appeared on the field and she cut him down as well bringing Amanda's life-points down to 3300. "I will cut them all down."

"_I can't afford to take another hit like that, especially if she has another copy of The Maiden's Apparition in her hand." _Amanda thought before she retrieved the card that she was looking for from her deck. "The last monster I summon this turn is Vylon Petachloro in attack mode." Amanda announced as she played the card and the small machine type monster appeared on the field (4/500/400). "Do your worst."

"That monster is even weaker than the others, do you not want to win?" Evelynn asked and Amanda remained silent with an unreadable expression on her face. "Very well, I will attack your final monster." Evelynn announced as she went to swing her sword at Amanda's monster….but was stopped by a brilliant light. "What?"

"I activated my Deck Master's Ability! As my life-points are less than half of my starting total and I have a light type monster on my side of the field, I can end the Battle Phase immediately." Amanda explained as she folded her arms and Evelynn backed off. "I can only use this ability once per duel but either way, I'm still in the game."

"So you are, I end my turn." Evelynn announced and Amanda drew her card. "But for how long? My life-points are untouched and yours are at 3300." Evelynn pointed out and Amanda nodded.

"I'm well aware of that Evelynn, but I've come back from worse situations before." Amanda responded before playing a card. "I activate Machine Duplication, as Vylon Petachloro is a Machine Type Monster with five hundred attack points I can Special Summon my other two copies from my deck." Amanda added as two more copies of Petachloro appeared on the field. "And before you ask, no, I'm not setting them up so you can wipe out the rest of my life-points at a later date, I'm setting them up so I can build the Overlay Network!"

"An XYZ Summon?" Evelynn asked as the portal opened up and the three Machine Type Monsters were sucked in. "I'm not worried."

"You should be! I XYZ Summon Vylon Disigma!" Amanda announced as she played the card and the huge, strange angel appeared on the field ready for battle (Rank: 4/2500/2100). "Sorry Evelynn but I activate Disigma's effect, once per turn I can detach an overlay unit from this card to target one effect monster my opponent controls, such as yourself."

"What? No!" Evelynn protested as Amanda detached an overlay unit from Disigma and it started sucking in Evelynn. "I cannot allow that! From my hand, I activate the effect of Effect Veiler! By discarding it, I can negate Disigma's effect." Evelynn announced as she discarded the monster and Disigma stopped in its tracks. "I've been used for other peoples needs for far to long in my life, I will not allow you to do the same!"

"Fine, I'll do this the old fashioned way then! I activate my trap card Vylon Gathering." Amanda announced as her facedown card flipped up depicting various Vylon monsters gathering in one place. "Until the end of the turn, this trap card will the combined power of the Vylon Monsters in my graveyard and add them to Disigma, in exchange, he is the only one who can attack this turn." Amanda explained as Disigma's attack points went up to 4200. "Vylon Disigma, attack Evelynn!" Amanda commanded and the angel fired a beam of light at the ghostly girl destroying her and bringing Evelynn's life-points down to 5300. "So much for your untapped life-points, I end my turn."

"This duel isn't over yet." Evelynn responded as she returned to her side of the field and drew her card, however as she did, she lowered her head sadly. "I stand corrected."

"Something wrong Evelynn?" Amanda asked and Evelynn sighed.

"Effect Veiler was the only monster in my hand, the rest of my cards require that I have a Ghost Maiden monster on the field." Evelynn explained before looking up. "But as I said before, I cannot surrender, so I'll do the next best thing by summoning my deck master to the field." Evelynn added as the Witch of the Black Forrest floated over to the field. "I cannot crash my monster into yours as that would be the same as surrendering, so I end my turn."

"I'm sorry Evelynn, sorry for everything you endured in your young life." Amanda said solemnly as she drew her card though all the women in the room, ghostly or otherwise, knew that it was a formality. "I hope you find peace in the afterlife, Disigma, attack Witch of the Black Forrest and end this duel." Amanda commanded and the angel fired a beam of light at the Witch of the Back Forrest destroying her and ending the duel, once the dust settled Evelynn was nowhere to be seen and the ping went off indicating that a boss had been defeated. "I thought I'd be happy to win my first duel of the tournament." Amanda sighed as Chloe walked up to the taller woman. "But I'm not."

"Her backstory was just one tragedy after the other, let's grab the destiny orb and get out of here." Chloe suggested and Amanda nodded in agreement before she grabbed the destiny orb, as Amanda did Chloe spotted a painting on the wall and walked around the podium. "Amanda, do you think this was them?"

"Huh?" Amanda asked before spotting the painting, it depicted two teenage girls in their late teens wearing gorgeous dresses that looked almost completely identical. "Must be, the appearance of those girls match Evelynn and Samantha, assuming that their card forms matched what they looked like when they were alive." Amanda nodded in agreement before getting a closer look. "I think I know how Ravencraw was able to pick up on the ruse."

"What do you mean?" Chloe asked and Amanda pointed to the girl on the right.

"This girl has freckles on her cheeks, it's subtle but its there." Amanda added before pointing to the other girl. "The other girl has dimples around her mouth, you see how she smiles?"

"Yeah, I see it now." Chloe nodded once she saw what Amanda meant. "I'm not even going to guess which one is which, but they are brunettes like me, guess that means Lord Ravencraw has a type."

"Petite women with long brown hair? Yeah, I can see what you mean." Amanda nodded before glancing out the window. "The storm's still raging outside, guess that means we're staying the night."

"Let's sleep somewhere else." Chloe commented as she glanced over at the bed, they had missed it before but like the bed in Evelynn's room, it had a female skeleton in it. "Don't feel comfortable sleeping in the same room as a skeleton."

"Agreed, we'll give the girls a proper burial in the morning, once the storm has passed." Amanda nodded in agreement before they went back down the passageway. "The diary said the other destiny orb was in the art gallery, I think it's safe to say that we'll find Fran and Ricardo down there."

"Lead the way." Chloe nodded before following Amanda down the passageway. _"The more I learn about Ravencraw, the more I wonder what my virtual father was thinking when he married me off to him, I can only hope that I can defeat him."_


	21. New Day, New Adventures

It had taken Chloe and Amanda quite some time to find the art gallery as they ended up searching the other floors rather than checking the first floor first, by the time they finally located the art gallery Ricardo, Jason and Fran were talking amongst themselves and had initially gotten ready for battle when the door opened.

"Seriously, who puts a whole Art Gallery under the stairs?" Chloe wondered as she entered the gallery with Amanda not far behind her, once the trio recognized the two women, they eased up though Chloe did do a double take when she saw Jason. "Jason? Didn't realize you were in the tournament."

"I mostly kept to myself, long time no see Chloe." Jason greeted her with a nod which Chloe returned. "We already tried outside but the storm's still going."

"We know, we could see the outside of the castle from the tower." Amanda responded as she brushed past Chloe and walked up to Jason. "Good news is, we have our first destiny orb, better news is, according to a diary Chloe found, the next destiny orb should be in here."

"If your talking about the one that was on that podium." Ricardo chimed in as he motioned with his thumb to the now empty secret room. "Fran grabbed it after I defeated The Earl of Demise, he said something about his spirit finally being at ease."

"That matches up with what we learned from Evelynn." Chloe nodded before noticing the confused looks on Fran, Ricardo and Jason's faces. "To make a long story short, the destiny orb in the tower was being guarded by the ghost of a princess called Evelynn, Amanda defeated her in a duel as it was the only way her spirit could be at ease but I don't think it was a coincidence that we were brought here by a storm."

"If it is, I'm eating my duel disk." Amanda added before frowning. "Evelynn and her twin sister Samantha were victims of Lord Ravencraw, Samantha turned into the Duel Spirit known as The Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams which I defeated in self defense but Evelynn had to be defeated in a duel so we could claim the orb." Amanda added before her frown deepened. "Ricardo, you mentioned defeating the Earl of Demise to claim this floor's destiny orb, right?"

"Right." Ricardo nodded before frowning. "Let me guess, he was their father?"

"Got it in one." Amanda nodded in response before sighing sadly. "We also found the remains of Evelynn and Samantha, Samantha's in one of the rooms on the second floor whilst Evelynn is in the tower, I'm actually thankful that they were skeletons because I'd rather not see what Ravencraw's victims look like after he's done with them but the point is, we plan on giving the girls a proper burial in the morning, once the storm has passed."

"You found Samantha's remains even though she had turned into a Duel Monster, right?" Fran chimed in and Amanda nodded. "Then it stands to reason that the kings remains are somewhere in the castle as well, there's still an entire wing of the castle we haven't checked yet."

"That's a fair point, unfortunately I didn't think to ask Evelynn if she knew where her dad's body was but considering that she was hiding from Ravencraw in the tower when she was murdered, I doubt she knew where his remains were." Amanda nodded in agreement before yawning. "I vote we check in the morning, unless they are in that secret room where you guys got the destiny orb."

"Already checked, there was nothing besides the podium and the destiny orb in there before we claimed it." Jason responded as he shook his head. "Wait, you said that the girls were skeletons, right? Just how old is Ravencraw?"

"I don't know, and my characters never met the man either." Chloe responded as she shook her head. "Maybe he's an elf of some kind, elves do live a lot longer than humans in Dungeons and Dragons, so I guess it's possible Sophia could've applied that to the in game races."

"Based on what we know, him being a Dark Elf wouldn't surprise me." Ricardo shrugged his shoulders in response. "But I agree with Amanda on getting some shut eye before we look for the king's remains."

"Maybe not in here, Art Galleries aren't exactly meant to be slept in for lack of better term." Chloe suggested as she glanced around the art gallery. "There are several bedrooms on the third floor, I can only assume that that's where the servants slept since the bedrooms looked fairly modest compared to Evelynn's but it's better than nothing, and before you ask, we didn't find any other remains, Evelynn did say that there was a third duelist with a zombie deck in the castle but neither me or Amanda encountered them."

"We're thinking that either they've moved to the west wing of the castle or get the hell out of here when Ravencraw arrived, either way it would make for some good bonus EXP if we do encounter and duel them." Amanda chimed in before motioning for the other duelists to follow the two women. "We'll lead the way."

"I'm just finding it funny that we'll be sleeping in a virtual castle whilst playing this game in an actual castle." Fran chuckled before following Chloe and Amanda out of the art gallery and Ricardo and Jason did likewise. "That's some Inception level shit right there!"

"I was thinking the same thing." Chloe agreed with the Irish Woman before they went on their way.

*the next morning, elsewhere in the world*

"I will give whoever built this tomb credit." Lance commented as he, Dmitri, Adrienne and Sophia made their way deeper into the tomb, they had gotten up from their night's rest just a few minutes ago and after a few minutes of regaining their bearings they made their way further into the tomb. "Whoever's buried here, the builders really, really wanted to make sure that no one would find the body! Come to think of it, did we ever find out just who this tomb belongs too from Zepharn?"

"Not that I can remember, no, and I would ask Sophia if she hadn't intentionally left herself in the dark regarding the quest's plot points." Adrienne responded as she shook her head before glancing over at the taller woman, the I2 CEO seemed to not be paying attention as she was glancing at the walls to Adrienne's right and the French woman shook her head. "The technician said that there wasn't long to go until we get out of here, hopefully we'll be able to fast travel our way out of here once we're done or something because I do not want to climb back up those steps!"

"Never mind that large gap we encountered not long after Lance's duel." Dmitri nodded in agreement as they continued to walk. "I know we've been down here for two days now thanks to the breaks between sessions, but it feels like we've been wondering through this tomb for far longer."

"Well, the good news is that as soon as we get out of here we can start searching for that little bastard." Lance responded not noticing a gap in the floor up ahead. "After that? Well after I make him endure my singing for a few hours he'll…" Lance never finished his sentence as he fell down the gap barely grabbing onto the ledge in time (thanks to a skill check roll of fifteen) and he held on for dear life. "Guys, don't leave me hanging around here!"

"Hold on, I got you comrade." Dmitri responded before he walked over to Lance and helped him out of the hole, Dmitri took one look inside the hole and frowned. "Pits with spikes at the bottom, how very Tomb Raider of the designers."

"Great, as if being nearly being roughly penetrated ONCE today wasn't enough." Lance grumbled only to immediately regret his phrasing when he saw Adrienne giggling, Sophia on the other hand just rolled her eyes. "Can we agree to keep that sentence a secret from Chloe? She'll never let me live it down, even if it's from a secondhand source."

"I don't know." Adrienne said mockingly as she looked at her fingernails. "What are you willing to do for me to keep it a secret?"

"Let you grab the destiny orb when we find it." Lance offered and Adrienne yawned. "And duel whatever's guarding it."

"Deal." Adrienne responded with a grin before walking over to the spike pit. "Can't tell if this an intentional trap or just damage over time, the spikes suggest intentional but maybe the builders wanted to be crazy prepared."

"Does it really matter?" Sophia finally chimed in with an annoyed look on her face as she walked up to the other duelists. "I'm as sick of this place as you guys are, let's walk around the pit and keep going." Sophia added and the other duelists nodded before carefully walking around the pit, once they were on the other side, they resumed walking. "Besides, by my calculations we should be near the antechamber soon."

"How do you know?" Lance asked as he turned to the I2 CEO. "I thought you intentionally kept yourself in the dark?"

"And I did." Sophia nodded before getting her guide out and turning the page to her backstory. "But my backstory states that my ancestors were the tomb builders of their tribe and my grandfather passed down the knowledge to me once I was off age." Sophia added before pocketing the guide. "It wasn't until that large gap near the entrance that I recognized the tomb, after all, my ancestors built many tombs."

"You're an elf, right?" Lance asked and Sophia nodded. "Shouldn't your ancestors still be around since elves live a lot longer than humans."

"That is true, but fate didn't always see it that way." Sophia responded as she folded her arms. "Just because elves live longer doesn't mean everyone makes it to the end of their natural lifespan, war, disease, sometimes war and disease, it affects all elves, including the tomb builders and as a Wood Elf I saw a lot of tribal warfare in my backstory."

"I guess that makes sense." Lance nodded before they continued on their path.

*a few minutes later*

The party didn't realize it yet, but they were near the antechamber of the tomb, however the party was also growing tireless from the exploration.

"We're still walking through the tomb." Lance grumbled under his breath as he trailed behind Adrienne, Dmitri was at the front with Sophia right behind Lance just encase anything happened. "In other news, the sky is grey, the grass is grey, and my hair will be grey by the time we get out of here!"

"I believe you mean "the sky is blue, and the grass is green"." Adrienne corrected him and Lance shook his head when he saw the amused look on the French woman's face.

"Unless going colorblind is a side effect of the Virtual Pods, I know what the colors of the sky and grass are." Lance asserted as he folded his arms. "It's just that we've been down here for so long that I might start to forget what the actual colors are."

"Me and Sophia could always summon up some grass if you need a reminder." Adrienne chuckled before she bumped into Dmitri's back and looked up realizing that the massive Russian had stopped in his tracks. "Let me guess, another gap for us to jump?"

"Not exactly." Dmitri responded before stepping to the side, in the room in front of them was a massive coffin and beside it was their first Destiny Orb, behind the coffin was a portal and the party breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm assuming that that's our first Destiny Orb Sophia?"

"Yes, I can confirm that that is a Destiny Orb." Sophia nodded with a relieved look on her face. "I don't know where that portal will take us but as long as it's far away from this tomb, I doubt anyone in the party will complain."

"And as previously agreed, I will be the one to grab the big, glowing ball." Adrienne added as she started walking towards the Destiny Orb. "Come to think of it, we never did learn who this tomb belongs too, did we?" Adrienne asked as she turned to the rest of the party.

"And you will never learn the truth." A new voice rang out and just in front of the Destiny Orb a Dimension Door opened, from it emerged a robed figure wielding a Duel Disk. "Who are you?! And how did you get past the Golem?!"

"Err hi, I'm Adrienne, this is Sophia, Lance and Dmitri, it was actually Lance who got past the golem if you want to be pedantic." Adrienne introduced herself and the rest of the party as she walked up to the robed figure who, now that she was closer to him, was easily a foot taller than her which surprised Adrienne as she was 5ft 6. "Look, we've traveled a long way to claim that destiny orb and we're not leaving this tomb without it! So, either stand aside and the let the lady past like a gentlemen or be struck down."

"Lady? In that state of dress?" The robed figure scoffed as he looked over Adrienne's revealing outfit. "I have no need of this, there are forces at work that even you couldn't understand."

"_I realize that this guy's just a simulation, but he has no idea what we went through five years ago, if he did, maybe he'd talk to me with a bit more respect!" _Adrienne thought with a frown before eyeing the robed man's Duel Disk. "Clearly you duel, and so do I for that matter, why don't we settle things the old fashioned way?"

"To me, "the old fashioned way" was a duel to the death with swords and magic." The robed man scoffed before turning to the side and showing Adrienne that he had a sword in its buckle attached to his belt. "But if it's a duel you're after Adrienne then I will happily comply!" The figure added before removing his hood and revealing that his face resembled that of Marik Ishtar's second in command Odion from the original Battle City. "My name is Abrax, and as long as I stand, this tomb will be your final resting place!"

"Basing a gravekeeper's likeness on Odion Ishtar?" Lance whispered to Sophia who sweat-dropped when she realized what he was getting at. "Little on the nose, don't you think?"

"I wasn't involved in designing the looks for the AI duelists who weren't duel monsters, that fell to the artists." Sophia whispered back as Abrax and Adrienne went over their Deck Master choices. "And whilst they will insist that the likeness was merely a coincidence, I will also insist that they change this character's appearance before the game launches, less Odion comes out of the woodwork to sue us for unlawful use of his image!"

"My Deck Master will be the mighty Pharaoh's Servant!" Abrax announced as he played the card and the weak zombie appeared next to him ready for battle (2/900/0). "Make your choice Adrienne."

"_I was hoping to get first choice, but apparently he doesn't believe in Ladies First." _Adrienne thought as she went over her choices. _"Level two or lower doesn't leave me with a lot of options, right?" _Adrienne thought before her eyes rested on a monster and she decided. "My Deck Master is Bunila!" Adrienne announced as the small white rabbit appeared on the field (1/750/2050). "Which is appropriate since I went as Jessica Rabbit for a Halloween Party last year."

"I would've thought Amanda would make a better Jessica Rabbit." Lance commented as he scratched his head. "You know, since she's taller, and an actual redhead."

"True, but we both agreed that I looked better in the dress." Adrienne responded as she glanced over at Lance. "Besides, she did buy me a red wig and high heels, so I'd at least look the part, also the last time you'll ever see me wearing those things, she went as Harley Quinn as the consolation prize."

"And knowing that you two officially became a couple two years ago, I can't help but imagine Harley Quinn making out with Jessica Rabbit." Sophia admitted and Adrienne chuckled.

"Well, we did retire to one of the bedrooms at the end of the night so you're not wrong there." Adrienne chuckled before seeing the looks she was getting from the human duelists. "It was an adults only Halloween party, no chance of any kid walking in and seeing Jessica Rabbit and Harley Quinn scissoring each other."

"Enough of this! We have a duel to start!" Abrax interrupted the conversation and Adrienne turned to him before they activated their duel disks and drew their opening hands. "And for making me wait whilst you babbled on about nonsense, I will go first!"

"Fine by me, at least then I get a look at what I'm up against." Adrienne nodded as Abrax looked over his hand. _"Though considering the theme of his deck master, I think I know already."_

"I activate Terra-Forming! With this I search out a Field Spell and add it to my hand." Abrax announced before he started inputting commands into his duel disk. "I hope your ready Adrienne." Abrax added as he added the card to his hand and let his deck auto shuffle. "Ready for a trip to the home of the Gravekeepers, I activate Necrovalley!"

"_Just as I thought." _Adrienne thought as the scenery changed to the scorching hot desert. "I am grateful that you've at least reminded up of what the sky looks like after spending so long in this tomb but that aside, I know what your Field Spell does, it increases the attack and defense of all Gravekeepers monsters by five hundred and essentially renders the graveyard useless."

"Yes indeed, for as long as I stand, the final resting place of the dead will not go disturbed!" Abrax nodded before he picked up three cards. "I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode to end my turn." Abrax announced and Adrienne nodded before drawing her card.

"_Maybe I should've left this to one of the other members of the party." _Adrienne thought with a frown as she went over her hand. _"So many of my key cards rely on graveyard manipulation which means Gravekeepers is a bad match for my deck but it's hardly the end of the world." _Adrienne thought before playing a card. "Not trying to copy you or anything but I activate my own Terra-Forming, and I use it to search for a key component of any Naturia deck!" Adrienne announced as she searched through her deck for her field spell. "Naturia Forrest!"

"A desert region next to a forest?" Abrax chuckled as Adrienne played the card and the scenery on her side of the field changed to the forest. "You do realize that doesn't protect you from the effects of Necrovalley, correct?"

"This isn't my first rodeo." Adrienne responded as her deck finished auto-shuffling. "Now I set two cards facedown and I summon Naturia Horneedle!" Adrienne announced as she played the cards and the small green bee like insect appeared on the field (4/1800/100). "Attack his defense monster!" Adrienne commanded and Horneedle flew towards the facedown monster, but its attack failed as Adrienne's life-points dropped to 7300. "Don't tell me, Gravekeeper's Spy?"

"Indeed." Abrax nodded as the young man in black robes appeared on the field (4/1200/2000) and his attack and defense increased to 1700 and 2500 respectively thanks to Necrovalley whilst Abrax started inputting commands into his deck disk. "Not only is his defenses to strong for your needle to crack but as he was flip summoned, I can Special Summon another Gravekeeper monster from my deck with fifteen hundred attack points or less." Abrax explained as he the card he was looking for ejected out of his deck. "Gravekeeper's Curse!" Abrax added as the young man with the sickly green glow around him appeared on the field (3/800/800). "I suppose you know what this card does as well."

"Unfortunately, yes." Adrienne nodded reluctantly as Gravekeepers' Curse fired a beam of light at her chest bringing her life-points down to 6800. "And whilst Necrovalley makes your Gravekeepers' Curse stronger, it still isn't strong enough to destroy Horneedle."

"Your insect will be destroyed in due time." Abrax responded as he folded his arms. "Are you done?"

"Oui, go ahead and take your turn." Adrienne nodded and Abrax drew his card. _"One of the oldest tricks in Duel Monsters and I fell for it, hook, line and sinker, for once I'm glad Amanda isn't in the party because she'd never let me live it down!"_

"It is time that I revealed my Deck Master's ability." Abrax announced breaking Adrienne's train of thought as he discarded a card. "Since I have Necrovalley on the field and as I have at least two Gravekeepers on my side of the field I can discard one Spell/Trap Card from my hand to Special Summon a Gravekeepers monster from my deck, this monster will be destroyed during the end phase but by then it's contributions will be enough."

"Good thing you mentioned the part about Necrovalley being required then!" Adrienne responded as one of her facedown cards flipped up. "Hope your ready for a Desert Storm because Mystical Space Typhoon is about to destroy Necrovalley."

"That would be a smart decision, if it weren't for my Deck Master's second ability." Abrax responded earning a confused look from Adrienne. "As long as he is my deck master, Field Spells such as Necrovalley can't be targeted! Don't worry, the same effect protects your forest as well."

"_And here I was about to call that broken." _Adrienne thought as her eyes narrowed. "Fine but since Mystical Space Typhoon still needs a target, I'll destroy your facedown card on the right instead." Adrienne announced and Abrax braced himself as the storm washed over the field and destroyed his set card. "You were saying?"

"I use my Deck Master's ability to summon another Gravekeeper's Curse." Abrax announced as the second monster appeared on the field. "And you know what that means."

"Indeed, which is why I'm glad I set this last turn." Adrienne responded as her facedown card flipped up. "Divine Wrath! At the cost of one card from my hand, I negate your monster's effect and destroy it!" Adrienne added and lightning struck the second Curse destroying him. "And thanks to my forest, I can add a Naturia monster to my hand as I have negated a card effect." Adrienne added before she started searching through her deck.

"It appears that you are a better duelist than I gave you credit for Adrienne, but don't think it'll be this easy from now on." Abrax responded with a grunt as Adrienne added the card to her hand before the first curse knelt down. "I shift Gravekeeper's Curse to defense mode and end my turn." Abrax announced and once Adrienne's deck had shuffled, she drew her card.

"I activate Spellbook inside the Pot! Now we'll both draw three cards from our decks!" Adrienne announced as she played the card and both she and Abrax drew their three cards. "Next, I summon Naturia Spiderfang!" Adrienne announced as the large spider appeared on the field (4/2100/400) and it immediately cowered at the sight of Spy and Curse. "Normally Spiderfang won't be able to attack unless you activate a Spell, Trap or Monster effect."

"Then I will do no such thing." Abrax responded with a smirk and Adrienne grinned. "You just wasted your normal summon!"

"I wouldn't be so sure about that! I activate my Spell Card Leodrake's Maine and I target Spiderfang for it's effect." Adrienne responded as Spiderfang's attack went up to 3000. "For the rest of the turn, Spiderfang is now a 3000 attack beatstick with his effects negated, and just to make sure that your remaining trap card doesn't come back to bite me, I play this, Barkion's Bark!" Adrienne announced as she played the card and Abrax's trap card became covered in bark. "As I control a face-up Naturia Monster, this Spell Card will ensure that you can't activate Spell or Trap Cards this turn!"

"What?!" Abrax demanded and Adrienne's grin grew wider.

"I'm not going to repeat myself, Spiderfang, attack Gravekeeper's Spy, Horneedle, attack his remaining Gravekeeper's Curse!" Adrienne commanded and her two insects charged forward before destroying both of Abrax's monsters. "Fortunately for you, they were in defense mode but it's a step in the right direction! I set one card facedown and end my turn." Adrienne announced and once Abrax had sent his two monsters to the graveyard he drew his card.

"I activate Gravekeeper's Steele! I target two Gravekeeper's in my graveyard and return them to my hand." Abrax explained before he retrieved the two cards from his graveyard. "And before you ask, no, that effect isn't negated by Necrovalley! Now I summon Gravekeepers' Spy back to the field." Abrax added before the spy returned to the field and Adrienne raised an eyebrow. "Now I activate Hidden Temples of Necrovalley! As long as I have a Gravekeeper's monster and Necrovalley on the field, only Gravekeepers monsters can be Special Summoned from this point onwards."

"Except it appears that you've forgotten one thing." Adrienne responded as she folded her arms. "If either Necrovalley or Gravekeepers Spy are destroyed, Hidden Temples of Necrovalley goes with it and Gravekeepers Spy's effect activates in the graveyard." Adrienne added before playfully looking at her fingernails. "And your deck master's ability is only usable if you have two Gravekeepers monsters on the field, which you don't."

"Perhaps not but I do have this instead, I remove my remaining Gravekeeper's Curse from play to summon Gravekeeper's Ghost." Abrax announced as he played the card after pocketing Curse and the transparent form of a robed man appeared on the field ready for battle (4/1800/1200). "Gravekeepers Ghost can only be Special Summoned by removing a Gravekeepers monster with less than a thousand attack points from my graveyard and like Gravekeepers Steele, this effect ignores Necrovalley's effect."

"All that for a monster with eighteen hundred attack points? Even with the boost from Necrovalley, your new monster isn't that impressive!" Adrienne responded as Gravekeeper's Ghost's attack points went up, but instead of the 2300 that she was expecting, the attack went up to 3100. "Or not."

"When Gravekeeper's Ghost is Special Summoned this way, he takes the attack points of the monster I removed from play to summon him and adds them to his own, now I activate my Deck Master's ability!" Abrax added before discarding a card from his hand. "This time, I shall use my Deck Master's Ability to summon Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier!" Abrax announced as the Egyptian man wielding a spear appeared on the field (4/1500/1000) and his attack points went up to 2000 thanks to Necrovalley. "This is a combined attack force of 6800, more than enough to finish you off, any last words."

"Yes, I have exactly five." Adrienne responded as she pointed to Naturia Horneedle. "I activate Naturia Horneedle's effect! I tribute Naturia Spiderfang to negate the Special Summon of Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier and destroy him." Adrienne added as both Spiderfang and Spear Soldier shattered. "This, off course, triggers the effect of Naturia Forest and whilst your remaining attack force is impressive." Adrienne added as she started searching through her deck. "I won't have to worry about you wiping out my life-points if I run out of ways to negate your summons."

"We'll see how long that lasts!" Abrax responded as Adrienne added the card to her hand and let her deck auto-shuffle. "Gravekeeper's Ghost, attack Horneedle!" Abrax commanded and the ghost floated towards Horneedle and split it in half bringing Adrienne's life-points down to 5500. "After this turn, I won't need a third monster to wipe you out, Gravekeeper's Spy, attack her life-points directly!" Abrax commanded and Gravekeeper's Spy charged into battle and punched her in the chin bringing Adrienne's life-points down to 3800. "Pray that you draw another Mystical Space Typhoon, I end my turn."

"Maybe I will, maybe I won't, but Shock Draw will speed things along!" Adrienne responded as her facedown card flipped up. "As I just took three thousand points of damage this trap card will let me draw three cards." Adrienne added before drawing three cards. _"Damn it, that's not what I wanted." _Adrienne thought as she looked at the three cards before drawing a fourth. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

"I take no pleasure in this but for the good of the land, this tomb's secrets cannot be discovered." Abrax responded before drawing his card. "Finish her off!" Abrax commanded and the two Gravekeepers charged into battle.

"This duel began with me falling for one of the oldest tricks in Duel Monsters, only right that it ends the same way! I activate Mirror Force!" Adrienne added as her trap card flipped up and Abrax's eyes widened as the attack was reflected back at his monsters destroying them. "Now, what was that you said about Hidden Temples of Necrovalley again? Oh yes, you said that if there weren't any Gravekeepers or Necrovalley on the field, it's destroyed!"

"Unfortunately for me, you are correct." Abrax responded through gritted teeth as the Spell Card shattered. "I move to my Second Main Phase and I normal summon Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier!" Abrax announced as the Egyptian man returned to the field.

"And since you Normal Summoned a monster, I can Special Summon Naturia Cosmobeet from my hand." Adrienne responded as the small black bulb appeared on the field (2/1000/700). "Thank you for summoning a monster after I destroyed Hidden Temples of the Necrovalley by the way, I wouldn't have been able to summon this little guy otherwise."

"Do you really think I only have one copy of Hidden Temples of the Necrovalley in my deck?" Abrax asked with a scoff as Adrienne went over her hand. "All I need to do is draw one and you'll be back to square one."

"Yeah, about that, what cards were you discarding for your Deck Master's ability exactly?" Adrienne asked and Abrax hesitated before going through his graveyard, when she saw the look on his face Adrienne grinned broadly. "Let me guess, the two cards you discarded were your other copies of Hidden Temples of the Necrovalley? Were you counting on your one turn kill working?"

"Indeed, I was." Abrax nodded with a reluctant sigh as he returned the cards to the graveyard. "But I still have one card left to play! I activate my trap card Rite of Spirit! This is essentially a Call of the Haunted that ignores the effects of Necrovalley and I use it to bring back Gravekeeper's Spy!"

"Sorry Abrax but I'm not letting that happen! I activate my Trap Card Exterio Fang!" Adrienne responded as her trap card flipped up. "As I have a Naturia monster on the field and at least one card in my hand, this trap card will negate Rite of Spirit and destroy it." Adrienne added as Rite of Spirit shattered. "This, off course, triggers my forests effect but before it does, I have to send two cards from my hand to the graveyard." Adrienne added before sending the two cards from her hand to the graveyard and searching through her deck.

"My turn will conclude once you are done searching." Abrax announced and once Adrienne added the card to her hand, she drew her card.

"_I almost want to teach him about not putting all his eggs in one basket, like I'd do in this situation in real life." _Adrienne thought as she added her two new cards to her hand. _"I will give the designers credit for managing to make the virtual duelists this realistic at least, but I have a duel to win!" _Adrienne thought before playing a card. "I summon another Spiderfang." Adrienne announced as the spider returned to the field. "So fun fact about Cosmobeet, he's a tuner monster!"

"A Synchro Summon?!" Abrax asked as the two monsters leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon.

"Oui, I tune Cosmobeet and Spiderfang together to Synchro Summon Naturia Barkion!" Adrienne announced as she played the card and the large wooden dragon appeared on the field with a roar (6/2500/1800). "Unfortunately, your Field Spell renders my monster's effect useless as I have to remove cards from play that are in the graveyard to use it, however a 2500 attack point monster is still nothing to sneeze at, Naturia Barkion, attack Gravekeeper's Spear Soldier!"

"Even if I lose my Spear Soldier, I still have a significant lead!" Abrax responded after Adrienne commanded her dragon and it lunged forward before swallowing the Spear Soldier whole and bringing Abrax's life-points down to 7500.

"It is true that I still have a long way to go but it's a start and by destroying your monster, I can activate my Deck Master's Ability." Adrienne responded as she motioned to Bunila. "Since I just destroyed a monster with an Earth Attribute Synchro Monster, I can Special Summon a monster of the same level from my deck in attack mode with its effects negated, so welcome back Spiderfang!" Adrienne added as the Spider returned to the field again. "Spiderfang, take a bite out of his life-points." Adrienne commanded and the spider bit Abrax on the arm bringing his life-points down to 5400. "Now that's more like it!"

"You may have two powerful monsters on the field, but I still have the lead." Abrax responded as he glared at Adrienne. "And all it'll take is my own Mirror Force for this to be over."

"Perhaps, but that's assuming you draw it first." Adrienne pointed out before picking up a card. "I set a card facedown and end my turn." Adrienne announced and Abrax drew his card.

"I activate Card of Demise, now I draw until I have five cards in my hand, but I must discard those cards after five turns." Abrax announced before drawing three cards.

"_I should nerf that card in the coming months." _Sophia thought as Abrax sent the Spell Card to the graveyard. _"Potentially five cards without an immediate cost is too good, I'll discuss this with Kaiba after the session."_

"I set one card facedown and end my turn." Abrax announced and Adrienne drew his card.

"I activate Nature's Pot." Adrienne announced as she played a card depicting the Pot of Greed being cut into a lawn. "As I control two Earth Type Monsters, this will allow me to draw two cards, however if I draw any more monsters with this card then my entire hand goes to the graveyard." Adrienne added before drawing her cards. "I get to keep them and that is unfortunate for you because this duel is over."

"I still have a significant lead from where I stand." Abrax responded as he folded his arms. "You won't wipe me out right away!"

"That's where your wrong, I activate Night Beam to destroy your facedown card." Adrienne announced and Abrax's eyes widened as the trap card shattered. "Don't tell me, it was your own Mirror Force, correct?" Adrienne asked and Abrax nodded. "Too bad, I activate Megamorph and equip it to Barkion doubling his power and giving me the power, I need to end this." Adrienne added as Barkion doubled in size and power to five thousand and Abrax lowered his head. "Barkion, Spiderfang, finish him off." Adrienne commanded and her two monsters launched their attacks bringing his life-points down to zero.

"You have earned the right to the destiny orb." Abrax said as he stood up. "But before you claim your prize, I must warn you, the Gnome you entered with has evil intentions, these tombs house the long dead bodies of liches that once plagued the lands and he seeks to resurrect them, my colleagues await you at the other tombs and they are far stronger than I am."

"We'll be ready for them." Sophia nodded as the ping went off indicating that the boss had been defeated. "That portal over there, does it lead anywhere?"

"It'll take you back to your last known location before you arrived at the tomb, we installed them knowing how long the trek down to the antechambers are and that anyone determined enough to travel this far and defeat us shouldn't have to suffer through the trip back up." Abrax explained causing the duelists to breath a sigh of relief as Adrienne grabbed the destiny orb. "Now please hurry, there will be someone at the tavern who will take you to the next tomb, but time is off the essence."

"Thank you Abrax, and we will make sure that these liches never return." Adrienne nodded before leading the others through the portal.


	22. Rogue Agenda

Author's Note: Like Jason, the character of Chakra Silvers was created by Colossal Fighter GX and originally debuted in chapter 88 of Yu-Gi-Oh GX The Future

Once the party had stepped through the portal, they found Abrax's words to be truthful as they were back at the tavern, unfortunately for them, Abrax never said where they were going to end up in the tavern thus resulting in their current situation.

"Come on guys, we didn't mean to interrupt." Lance said with a nervous laugh as he and the rest of the group backed away from the five naked half orcs whilst the Half-Elf prostitute lay in the bed glaring daggers at him. "Okay so I landed on the prostitute but honestly I could…." Adrienne quickly covered Lance's mouth as Sophia got the door open.

"You interrupted their gang bang; do you really want to anger them further by questioning their prowess in bed to their faces?" Adrienne whispered in Lance's ear through gritted teeth and he quickly shook his head as the party quickly left the room and shut the door behind them, after a few seconds they heard noises that could only indicate that they had picked up where they left off moments before. "Let's never speak of that again."

"Agreed, I was expecting to see a lot of things in this tournament and what a Half Orc's penis looks like is not one of them, nor is it a memory I'm in any hurry to revisit." Sophia nodded in agreement as they quickly walked down the hallway. "That said, that prostitute looked to be the same height and body type of Chloe, that couldn't have been comfortable for her." Sophia added causing her companions to face-fault. "Adrienne, you were talking about scissoring your girlfriend in the tomb, don't get me started!"

"It's not that!" Adrienne asserted as she and the two men got up. "It's just we never thought we'd hear that coming out of the mouth of the I2 CEO!"

"What? Your surprised I had a sex life at one point." Sophia asked as she flipped some hair over her shoulder. "Job title aside, I'm a beautiful young woman who's well-endowed and from a wealthy family, it's easier to list the number of suitors or romantic flings I haven't had, even before I took over from father."

"I guess you have a point." Lance nodded in agreement as they made their way down the stairs. "It's still jarring though."

"If it's any consolation, I don't have time for romantic flings nowadays, too busy with work and a certain incident that I won't go into doesn't help." Sophia added with a shudder and the other duelists took that as their opportunity to drop the subject. _"Not to mention the arranged marriage contract with Tyler, as far as I know, neither he nor Chelsea told the others and Miranda knows obviously but that was unavoidable." _Sophia thought as they walked down the stairs.

"Ahh, I was wondering when my party was going to arrive." The group looked up and, whilst Sophia breathed a sigh of relief at the change of subject, saw the source of the female Italian voice, a young woman with long dirty blonde hair and blue eyes whose outfit suggested that she was a ranger. "I'm Gabriella Rossi, reigning Italian National Champion."

"Ahh, yes, the one who dethroned Luigi Malverio after his declining performances in Battle City?" Sophia recognized her as she pushed to the front of the group. "Then again, he wouldn't have been in the New York Battle City Semis if it weren't for his opponents' underhanded tactics."

"Exactly, he was doing the Italian scene an injustice for years, needless to say, there was a lot of cheering when I eliminated him the first round." Gabriella nodded before motioning for the group to follow her to her table which they did, "So, I know you guys left with Zipharn two days ago, I got stuck with a side quest to make sure I didn't lag behind you guys but I did get a destiny orb through it, what did you guys learn in the tomb?"

"That Zipharn's an evil bastard who wants to bring back several liches." Lance responded and Gabriella nodded. "We need to find the next tomb before he does, the guardian of the destiny orb in our tomb said that you'd be able to take us there."

"The next tomb is just outside a major port city to the south of this town." Gabriella nodded as she got out a map of the world and pointed to the city. "We can also stock up on supplies there, but it's a three day journey."

"After two days of exploring that tomb I'm ready for something new." Dmitri nodded and Gabriella put the map away. "I'm assuming you're a human ranger?"

"Correct, my side quest involved saving a lost puppy from some Half-Orcs who needed to get laid, I hired them a prostitute and left them alone." Gabriella added and the party shared a look. "What?"

"We interrupted them when we warped in." Lance explained as a sweat-drop rolled down his head. "And I landed on the prostitute, they were not amused."

"Then maybe we should get a move on before they finish with her." Gabriella responded with a nervous laugh as she stood up. "I would say "wait to see if they go another round" but the only prostitute available was a petite half elf, I'll be surprised if she's able to walk straight after they're finished."

"You and me both." Lance nodded before they left the tavern.

*elsewhere in the world*

Back at the castle the storm had since passed and the party were currently searching the west wing for the king's remains so that they could bury him with his daughters, however there was still a lot on Chloe's mind.

"_I get the feeling that I would've been targeted by Lord Ravenraw regardless of what background I went for." _Chloe thought as she watched Ricardo and Fran dispose of Armored Zombie (4/1500/0) and The Snake Eyes (4/1500/1200) with Heroic Challenger – Spartan and Rare Metal Dragon respectively. _"We know from Evelynn's story that he tends to go after petite women with long brown hair, never thought I'd consider this but maybe I should dye my hair? In game that is, I like being a brunette to much in real life to even consider it!"_

"Okay, that should be the last of them." Ricardo broke Chloe's train of thought as the two monsters disappeared from the field. "There seems to be a lot of Duel Monster activity in this direction so maybe we're on the right track?"

"Or that's what the designers want you to think." Jason responded as he shrugged his shoulders, in front of them was a large double door that looked fairly heavy. "Either way, no offense ladies but I think me, and Ricardo should try to get it open."

"Oh sure, just don't come crying to us when you throw your backs out." Fran responded as she rolled her eyes before joining the other women as they watched Ricardo and Jason start to push the door open. "We checked every other room in this wing, if tis isn't where the kings remains are, I'll be surprised."

"Agreed, either that or Lord Ravencraw had the decency to bury him for us." Amanda responded with a frown as they watched Ricardo and Jason struggle to get the door open. "And knowing what he did you the king's daughters among others, I'd sooner believe that Lance can sing nowadays."

"Me and Lance have been living together for the past year and a half, give or take a few months." Chloe responded with a small grin as she turned to Amanda. "Trust me, his singing hasn't gotten any better, I did manage to stop him from singing in the shower though."

"How? By threatening to make him sleep on the couch until he stopped?" Amanda asked semi-jokingly as the boys finally got the door open and Chloe shook her head.

"Nothing that drastic, just threatened to set fire to his deck, yeah I know how ironic that is since he runs a fire deck." Chloe responded with a grin before Jason and Ricardo turned to the three women and they looked like they had seen a ghost. "What? Is an Egyptian God Card in there?"

"That would be preferable." Jason responded before motioning the three women forward and they entered the room, it was the throne room but there wasn't a single inch of it that wasn't covered in dried blood, and on the throne sat a male skeleton wearing a crown and tattered robes. "Well, we found the king at least."

"I'm not even going to pretend that I understand the first thing about biology beyond the basics." Chloe responded as she covered her mouth in shock and disgust. "That said, there's no way in hell that much blood came from the king's body."

"Si, seems Ravencraw decided to take out everyone else in the room as well." Ricardo nodded in agreement as he looked around. "I don't see any bodies aside from the kings though, think Ravencraw buried them and left the kings body as a message?"

"Either that or he didn't leave enough of their bodies behind to fit in a matchbox." Amanda responded with a shudder before reluctantly stepping into the room. "Let's get this over with, I don't know about you guys but the less time I spend in this room, the better."

"Agreed." Chloe nodded before the rest of the duelists stepped into the room, she trailed behind the others alongside Jason and turned to him. "So, I'm guessing human alchemist?"

"Hmmm? Oh, yeah, Guild Artisan background." Jason nodded once he understood what she was getting at. "Chakra told me that she got the Bard class and decided to go with an Elf for her race, don't ask how the designers got Bard out of her deck."

"I will admit, that is a strange choice, I was expecting to get Paladin myself but instead got sorceress." Chloe nodded in understanding as the others approached the throne. "How is things with you and Chakra anyway? Last I heard, she had a falling out with her parents?"

"That's the long and short of it, yeah, she basically got tired off their old fashioned views on, well, everything, and moved to Salt Lake City to be with me." Jason nodded in response as the others carefully moved the king's body. "Last I heard from them was then they called Chakra to try to blackmail her into coming home or be cut off, they didn't count on the fact that she had a lot of money in her account already."

"I can't really pass judgement since I didn't know them, but you know my history with crappy parents." Chloe responded with a shudder and Jason nodded in understanding. "Did Chakra say what group she was with?"

"Only that she was waiting for a group to come to her, guess we'll find out later." Jason responded before the others came over carefully carrying over the king's skeleton. "Amanda, Chloe, you guys know where his daughters skeletons are, you want to grab them?"

"Sure, we'll meet you guys outside." Amanda responded with a nod before motioning for Chloe to follow her. "And we'll discuss our next move after the burial."

"Probably best we get a move on quickly, encase Ravencraw decides to come back here for whatever reason." Ricardo nodded in agreement before the two women left the throne room.

*two days earlier in game*

As Andreas, Raven, Jade and Zach entered the cave they found themselves back in the blue tunnel they had all started in, it didn't take long for them to realize that this wasn't normal as the lead technician's voice rang out.

"Attention duelists, there has been several changes to your quest." The technician stated before Ariana's initial in game appearance appeared in front of them. "Ariana Sommers is no longer part of your quest and she has started over with a new quest and your quest has been changed to reflect this." The technician added before Ariana's avatar disappeared. "Your quest remains the same regardless, please enjoy the remainder of the tournament."

"That was not unexpected." Raven commented plainly as the scenery changed back to the cave. "I wonder what Annastriana meant when she pointed us to this cave."

"Shame that we can't ask her." Jade grumbled as she glanced towards the cave entrance. "No thanks to…..."

"Ask me what?" Annastriana's voice rang out and to the group's surprise she joined them in the cave. "Sorry, I got lost whilst Andreas was dueling that moss monster."

"No problem." Andreas responded as he shook his head. "I believe you said this cave had magical properties?"

"All father told me was that it was a lot bigger on the inside than it is on the outside." Annastriana responded as Andreas checked his XP.

"_I guess the technician changed my first duel to one against a moss monster." _Andreas thought as he glanced at the XP which had shown that he had defeated a boss. _"Wonder if I beat it by deck out like I almost did to Ariana, though now I can't get the Doctor Who theme out of my head." _Andreas thought before turning to Annastriana. "Do you know if there's anything down here? Like a Destiny Orb?" Andreas asked and Annastriana nodded.

"There is one, deep within the cave." Annastriana explained with a nod as she walked forward. "I can guide you through the cave, but it'll take at least two days, even with my guidance."

"That's fine by me." Andreas nodded before they went deeper into the cave.

*two days later in game*

As Annastriana had stated, it had taken the group two days to explore the cave and by now they were pretty deep into the cave, whilst it didn't go nearly as deep as the tomb that Lance's group had just finished exploring it was still a fairly deep cave and they had to deal with the occasional hostile duel monster.

"Cave Dragons, Dragons that Dwell in the Caves." Andrea commented as Diamond Dire Wolf destroyed another dragon. "You'd think the I2 Creative Team would be a little more inventive."

"Just be glad we're not dealing with dragons from Dungeons and Dragons." Jade commented as the Australian woman stepped forward to look over the area they had just entered, it was a large open space in the cave with several possible entranceways that they could see. "We wouldn't be able to take those things on at level five, let alone level one."

"True, and now we have a different problem." Andreas commented as he looked around the room. "If we try every possible entrance, then we'll be here all day, and I'd rather not spend the rest of my days in this cave."

"Good thing you've got me then." Annastriana responded as she stepped forward. "My tribe has ventured through this cave many times trying to figure out why its so vast on the inside, we are no closer to finding out the truth, but it was me that found the destiny orb in the first place."

"That's great and all but we can't do much with that without you pointing us in the right direction." Jade pointed out and Annastriana nodded before motioning to an entrance that was very high up in the cave. "Okay, second question, how do we get up there?"

"Leave that to me." Annastriana responded before pointing to the ground with her staff and casting wall of thorn causing the massive wall of vines to sprout up from the ground and reach the entrance. "We had best be quick about it, my spell will only last an hour and there is still much of the cave left to be explored."

"Say no more." Andreas responded before he, Zack, Raven and Jade started climbing up, Annastriana soon joined them and the boys reached the top first before helping the women up. "Please tell me it's just a straight path to the orb from here?"

"Afraid not, whoever seeks to claim it will have to duel me for the right as I am the Tribal Chief's daughter." Annastriana responded before turning to the others. "We will cross that bridge when we come to it, but I suggest that you decide among yourselves who will duel me now."

"I haven't dueled since the Australian National Championships back in January." Jade responded as she stepped forward. "If your looking for a duel, you've got your opponent." Jade added and once the others agreed with her Annastriana nodded.

"Excellent, then we may continue." Annastriana nodded before leading the group into the cave.

"Raven, have you seen Jade duel?" Andreas whispered to the Polish woman who nodded in response. "She must be good if she qualified for the Australian Nationals."

"She didn't just qualify Andreas. She came in second and lost out to Mark Stevens." Raven explained as she turned to Andreas. "It was at that tournament that Sophia recruited her, not just for her hacking skills but for her talents as a duelist, though as she mentioned on the ship, they had been friends for years by that point, as for what deck she runs, that would be telling."

"Don't want Annastriana to get an advantage?" Andreas asked and Raven nodded, sensing that she didn't want to continue the conversation Andreas dropped the line of questioning. _"So, Sophia employs a Polish Woman who took Eddie Roberts to the limit when Battle City was hosted in Las Vegas and a woman who came in second in the Australian Nationals, I have to wonder just what Sophia's guidelines are for hiring duelists and how much she pays two excellent duelists to work directly for her, I'd imagine that it was quite a bit more than what they'd make on the pro-leagues."_

*later*

As the five duelists proceeded deeper into the cave, they found it growing darker the further they progressed, that is until they found themselves outside a chamber that was growing brightly from the inside at which point Annastriana stepped forward.

"We have arrived." Annastriana explained to the group before motioning to a path that led outside the chamber. "That path will lead you to the outside world once the duel between myself and Jade is complete and you have claimed the destiny orb, but that's only if you defeat me."

"Lady, where I come from, I'm one of the best duelists in the country!" Jade responded cockily as she stepped forward. "And my deck will prove it!"

"If your so confident in your abilities, then this should be interesting." Annastriana responded before she activated her duel disk and Jade did likewise, it didn't take long for Andreas to notice that both Jade and Ann's duel disks had custom designs on them.

"_Jade's duel disk seems to be painted in the colors of a Chinese dragon." _Andreas noted before glancing over at Annastriana's duel disk. _"And Annastriana's seems similar to Sophia's duel disk in real life, I wonder if Annastriana is based on a Dungeons and Dragons character Sophia played at some point?" _Andreas thought before the deck master selection screen appeared in front of both women and they quickly made their choices.

"My deck master is Luster Dragon Number 2." Jade announced as the large green dragon appeared on the field with a roar (6/2400/1400). "I've been pretty generous by giving you monsters from Level Six or lower to chose from, hope you appreciate it."

"I do, but it was not necessary, my deck master is The All-Seeing White Tiger." Annastriana announced as the large, regel white tiger appeared on the field (3/1300/500). "This proud ruler of the jungle is feared and respected in equal measure, but he is fearsome as my deck master."

"_And I'm glad I chose first, level three or lower doesn't give me much to choose from." _Jade thought as she went over her hand. "Who's going first?"

"As I am the protector of this orb, I will go first." Annastriana announced before going over her hand. "I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode." Annastriana announced as the three set cards appeared on the field. "And I end my turn."

"That's it?" Jade asked as she drew her card and added it to her hand. "You know what? I'm sick of this cave and I think it's time for a change of scenery, I activate my Field Spell Card Jade Dragon Shrine." Jade announced as she played the Field Spell and the scenery changed to a beautiful shrine that was jade green in color and had several dragons flying overhead. "As you can probably tell from my Field Spells name, my deck is centered around an archetype of dragons called the Jade Dragons and with this on the field, they gain some interesting effects."

"A woman called Jade running a Jade Dragon deck?" Andreas asked with a raised eyebrow and Jade sweat-dropped knowing where he was going with this. "Just to clarify, is Jade your real name or is it a nickname like Raven's?"

"What can I say? My parents are pretty out there, to say the least." Jade responded as she glanced over at Andreas. "Yes, my real name is Jade, or to be specific, Jade Atkins-Smith, and yes, that name did get me bullied in school but that's beside the point." Jade added before motioning to her hair. "And before you ask, no, this isn't my natural hair color, I'm a natural blonde but I started dyeing it when I was seventeen."

"What are you talking about?" Annastriana asked with a confused look on her face and Jade sweat-dropped again before turning her attention back to her.

"It's a long story, for now I set two cards facedown and I summon Jade Dragon Wyvern in attack mode." Jade announced as she played the cards and a large, jade green wyvern appeared on the field with a roar (4/1800/1200). "We'll get to this guy's effect later, Jade Dragon Wyvern, attack her defense monster!" Jade commanded and the dragon breathed green fire at the monster and whilst the monster was one, they recognized it took them by surprise. "Nimble Momonga?" Jade asked as Annastriana's life-points went up to 9000 thanks to the monster's effect. (2/1000/100).

"You sound surprised." Annastriana responded as she set two more copies of the monster on the field and Jade shook her head.

"No, it's just not a monster I've seen in a long time, it's your move." Jade responded and Annastriana nodded before drawing her card.

"I start by activating a Continuous Spell Card called Nature's Gift." Annastriana announced as her card appeared on the field depicting a beautiful field of flowers that stretched as far as the eye could see. "This card benefits my Beast Type Monsters, but we will get to why in a second, first I tribute my two facedown monsters to summon Green Baboon, Champion of the Forrest." Annastriana announced as the two facedown cards disappeared from the field and in the place of the one on the right stood Green Baboon, Defender of the Forrest but this time, was in gold armor and was carrying a sword (8/2600/1800).

"_Because off course Sophia couldn't resist making another Baboon monster." _Andreas thought as he looked at the massive monster. _"If it's any good, I might look into adding it to my deck."_

"As I tribute two level four or lower monsters to summon my champion, his effect will allow me to attack twice." Annastriana explained and Jade's eyes widened. "At the cost of losing half his attack points on the second attack, however as you only have one monster on the field that won't be a problem! Green Baboon, attack Jade Dragon Wyvern!" Annastriana commanded and the massive baboon charged into battle.

"Guess again! I activate my Deck Master's ability!" Jade announced as Luster Dragon Number 2 two flight, "Since I control at least one Jade Dragon monster I can end the Battle Phase immediately and draw one card for each Jade Dragon monster I control." Jade added as Green Baboon stopped his charge and Jade drew a card. "However, I have to skip my next draw and battle phases if I use this effect and I have to wait two turns before I use this effect again."

"Use those two turns wisely, I end my turn." Annastriana announced and Jade skipped her draw phase.

"I may not be able to draw this turn, but I can do this, I activate Dragon Shrine!" Jade announced as she played the card. "How this card works is twofold, for starters it allows me to send one Dragon Type Monster from my deck to the graveyard." Jade announced as she sent the monster to the graveyard. "And since that monster was a normal type monster, I get to do it again." Jade added before sending another card to the graveyard and letting her deck auto-shuffle. "Why would I do that? Because sending those cards to the graveyard activated my shrine's special ability."

"Jade Dragon Shrine?" Annastriana asked for clarification and Jade nodded. "What about it?"

"When I send at least one Dragon Type Monster to the graveyard by a card effect I can special summon a Jade Dragon from my graveyard, and what do you know? I just sent two down there!" Jade added before retrieving the card from her graveyard. "So please welcome to the field Adult Jade Dragon!" Jade announced as she played the card and a much larger jade colored dragon appeared on the field with a roar (5/2200/1500). "When this big guy is Special Summoned whilst Jade Dragon Shrine is on the field, his effect activates allowing me to increase or reduce his level by one, I chose to increase it."

"Only one reason you'd do that." Annastriana responded as the adult dragon's level increased to six. "A Synchro Summon."

"Bingo! For my normal summon I bring out Jade Dragon Hatchling." Jade announced as she played the card and a tiny, adorable Jade Dragon appeared on the field (2/800/800). "Yeah, I know, he looks about as cute as a Labrador puppy but since he's a tuner, my hatchling is as vicious as a rottweiler."

"I would like to state for the record that no dog is born violent, more often than not, they are trained that way." Andreas chimed in earning a confused look from Jade. "Me and Nicola volunteer at the New York ASPCA on our off days, before the tournament we had successfully rehomed a rottweiler and a Pitbull."

"Those would be the dogs I helped you save from those dog fighters, yes?" Raven asked as she thought back to that day and Andreas nodded. "Glad to hear it."

"Hey, I love dogs as well, but I was only using the Rottweiler for my metaphor, okay!" Jade responded as a sweat-drop rolled down the Australian woman's head. "Back to business! I tune my Jade Dragon Hatchling with Adult Jade Dragon!" Jade announced as the two dragons leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon. "I Synchro Summon Ancient Jade Dragon!" Jade announced as she played the card and once the bright flash faded a massive jade green dragon appeared on the field with a roar (8/3000/2500). "Don't ask how it's head is fitting in the cave." Jade added as she glanced up at her new dragon.

"As I said, this cave is magical, and it will adjust to fit the size of your new monster." Annastriana responded as she folded her arms. "And whilst your dragon is stronger than my champion, your forgetting one important fact, to use your deck master's ability last turn, you had to skip your next Battle Phase as well as your draw phase."

"_Damn it! I was so caught up in the moment that I completely forgot about that!" _Jade thought with a frown as she glanced up at her dragon. _"This was the move that almost won me the Australian National Championships the year I was hired by Sophia, only difference was Mark negated my attack with a trap card, can't remember which one but it brought him enough time to turn the duel around." _Jade thought before going over her hand. "It's your move." Jade announced and Annastriana drew her card.

"As I am feeling generous, I will activate a Spell Card known as Spellbook Inside the Pot." Annastriana announced as she played the card and both duelists drew three cards. "Now I activate the effect of Nature's Gift, by discarding a Beast Type Monster from my hand I can add that monster's attack points to my Champions, you don't mind if I discard Berserk Gorilla for this effect, do you Jade?" Annastriana asked as she discarded a monster.

"Actually, I do mind." Jade responded as her eyes widened whilst Champion of the Forrest's attack points went up to 4600. "Quite a bit!"

"Too bad." Annastriana responded before pointing to Ancient Jade Dragon. "Green Baboon, Champion of the Forrest, attack her dragon!" Annastriana commanded and the baboon charged forward before slashing the dragon and bringing Jade's life-points down to 6400. "And did you forget about Champion of the Forrest's effect already? Green Baboon, attack her wyvern!" Annastriana commanded as the baboon slashed at the wyvern bringing Jade's life-points down to 5900.

"I was hoping you did forget about it's effect in all honesty, but it doesn't matter! I activate my trap card Miracle's Wake!" Jade responded as her trap card flipped up. "I use this to bring back Ancient Jade Dragon!" Jade added as the massive green dragon returned to the field with a roar. "And since you destroyed my wyvern whilst Jade Dragon Shrine is on the field, I can add one Dragon Type Monster of the same level from my deck to my hand."

"It seems we're almost back to square one." Annastriana responded as Jade added the monster to her hand and let her deck auto shuffle. "For the record, Nature's Gift's effect only lasts until the end of my turn, same goes for the effect that cuts my baboon's attack points in half." Annastriana explained as Jade's deck finished shuffling. "But even so, I now possess the lead and I set one card facedown to end my turn." Annastriana announced as she set the card and Jade drew her card.

"_I just realized that she hasn't touched those facedown cards since she set them on turn one, even after I attacked her Nimble Momonga." _Jade thought as she looked over her hand. _"Then again, neither did I until just now, and I'll bet my Alienware Laptop that they are there to protect Champion of the Forrest." _Jade thought before looking at her drawn card. "I activate Cards of Consonance! I discard one weak Dragon Type Tuner from my hand to draw two cards."

"Draw all the cards you want if you think it'll help." Annastriana responded as Jade drew two cards and discarded one.

"All right then, I will! I activate Raiding the Dragon's Cave!" Jade announced as she played the card before sweat-dropping. "And that seems appropriate considering that we are essentially doing just that! But more to the point, since I have a level five or higher Dragon Type Monster in my graveyard, this Spell Card will allow me to draw two cards." Jade added before drawing two cards. "I set three cards facedown, now Ancient Jade Dragon, attack her champion!" Jade commanded and the dragon started to breathe fire at the massive baboon.

"I activate my Deck Master's Ability! As two monsters of the same level are about to attack and at least one of them is a beast type monster I can activate a Trap Card from my hand as if it was a Quick Play Spell Card." Annastriana responded before she played the card. "Like Horn of the Phantom Beast which gives my Champion an extra eight hundred attack points." Annastriana added as the horn appeared in the baboon's hands causing its attack points to go up to 3400.

"Nice try Ann, but I'm not losing my dragon so soon, I activate Trap Jammer to negate Horn of the Phantom Beast!" Jade announced as the trap card flipped up negating the other trap card and allowing Ancient Jade Dragon to incinerate the champion bringing Annastriana's life-points down to 8600. "Long way to go but I'm off the starting block at least." Jade admitted before noticing the curious look Annastriana was giving her. "Something I said?"

"Yes, no one's ever called my "Ann" before." Annastriana admitted and Jade shrugged her shoulders.

"Let's be honest, your full name's a mouthful and it's easier to keep calling you Ann." Jade pointed out and after a moment's reflection Annastriana nodded.

"I suppose your right, in any case, it's still your move." Annastriana responded and Jade nodded.

"I end my turn." Jade announced and Annastriana drew her card.

"You may have destroyed my baboon, but I'm not so foolish as to only rely on one monster." Annastriana stated plainly as she went over her hand. "Case in point, I activate Call of the Haunted to bring back Berserk Gorilla." Annastriana added as the angry gorilla appeared on the field (4/2000/1000). "Why would I bring that back instead of my champion? It's simple, Champion can't be Special Summoned, period."

"So, it's basically a worse version of Defender of the Forrest but with the ability to attack twice?" Jade asked with a raised eyebrow. "Is that the long and short of it?"

"I wouldn't go that far but essentially, yes." Annastriana nodded in response before picking up a card. "However Berserk Gorilla won't be staying around, I sacrifice him to summon Pink Baboon – Maiden of the Forrest." Annastriana announced as the gorilla vanished and, in its place, stood a pink, much more feminine baboon wearing a pretty dress and carrying a bow of flowers (5/0/0) and upon seeing the monster the other duelists face-faulted.

"That thing is going to haunt my nightmares." Andreas deadpanned as he and the others got to their feet. "Also, Sophia's taking the baboon series of cards too far."

"Normally I wouldn't say anything because I like getting paid by a billionaire to put my computer skills to good use." Jade responded with a deadpan expression on her face as she gathered up her cards. "But on the other hand, I have to agree, that said, it won't jump the shark unless there's a pet of the forest or something."

"Jumping the shark? Series of cards?" Annastriana asked with a thoroughly confused look on her face before shaking her head. "It seems fate had a sense of humor when it picked these heroes."

"Oh, trust me, just wait until Zach opens his mouth, then you'll be convinced!" Andreas responded before realizing that his girlfriend's step-brother wasn't with them. "Zach? How exactly do we miss a guy who's six foot four? Especially when the woman of the group are five foot two and five foot six?"

"For the record, I'm five foot three." Annastriana chimed in as a sweat-drop rolled down her head. "But your right, it does seem odd that we misplaced someone that tall."

"Sorry I'm late guys." Zach's voice rang out as he ran up to the group looking exhausted. "I had to try the other caves, just to be sire." Zach added and the others face-palmed.

"See what I mean?" Andreas asked as he ran a hand down his face. "Where were we in the duel?"

"It was my move." Annastriana responded as she shook her head in disbelief before motioning to her new monster. "Pink Baboon isn't as strong as her male counterparts but thanks to her ability, she makes up for it, once per turn, I can take control of one monster my opponent controls until the end of my turn and that monster gets to attack twice as long as the monster I used to summon Pink Baboon has two thousand or more attack points."

"Wait, what?!" Jade protested as the baboon winked seductively at the dragon. "Never mind the fact that your baboon is flirting with my dragon! And I never thought I'd say that sentence in my entire life! That's more than enough to defeat me!" Jade added as the dragon flew over to Annastriana's side of the field.

"So it is, pity you won't be able to earn that destiny orb." Annastriana responded before pointing to Jade. "Ancient Jade Dragon, end this duel now!" Annastriana commanded and the dragon got ready to breathe fire at its mistress.

"_I should post what I just said to my Facebook Wall without context, see how many laugh reacts I get to a baboon flirting with a dragon!" _Jade thought before quickly shaking her head and activating her facedown card. "First, I activate Birthright to bring back the monster I discarded for Dragon Shrine earlier, Old Wise Jade Dragon!" Jade announced as the monster appeared on the field, it was a much older jade dragon with white scales around its chin that resembled a beard somewhat (4/18000/1200). "He's a normal type monster sure, but he's still a Jade Dragon, meaning I can end the battle phase with my Deck Master's ability!"

"That may be so." Annastriana nodded as Ancient Jade Dragon called off its attack. "But you skip your draw and battle phases in exchange and on my next turn, I'll start the process all over again." Annastriana added before smirking. "Did I forget to mention that I can do it more than once per duel? Your dragon's strong but it'll be your undoing."

"Assuming you'll get another turn." Jade responded before folding her arms. "Now, can I have my dragon back? Because unless you have a card that lets you conduct another Battle Phase, it's my turn."

"If I had such a card, I would've played it by now, go ahead and take your turn." Annastriana responded and Jade instinctively went to draw a card. "Forget already?"

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't." Jade responded before she activated one of her facedown cards. "But let's work around that, shall we? Reckless Greed will let me draw two cards in exchange for skipping my next two draw phases." Jade added before drawing twice. _"Magic Planter, I can use this to destroy Birthright and get two more draws but I'll lose Old Wise Jade Dragon in the process and if those cards are duds, I may as well surrender because my other two trap cards are situational at best and I'll lose my only defense."_

"_You know the old saying Jade." _Ancient Jade Dragon, who in actuality, was her Duel Spirit Partner, responded as it glanced over at her. _"High risk equals high reward."_

"_And said high reward almost landed me in hot water twice with the Brisbane Police, I only avoided jailtime because Sophia was kind enough to pay for my lawyer." _Jade thought with a frown before making her mind up. _"But on the other hand, these stakes aren't nearly as high." _Jade thought before playing a card. "I activate Magic Planter! I destroy Birthright and Old Wise Jade Dragon to draw two more cards."

"If your trying to deck yourself out, then by all means." Annastriana responded as Jade's trap card and weaker monster shattered and the Australian woman drew two cards. "But you know there are faster ways to surrender."

"I've been dueling since I was fifteen, I'm twenty three now." Jade responded as she added the cards to her hand. "I know that doesn't sound like much to you since elves live a lot longer than humans, but I've been dueling for most of my adult life, trust me, I know." Jade added before looking at her new cards. "And hey! Look at that! I have just what I need to win this!"

"Your bluffing." Annastriana said defiantly as she folded her arms. "My life-points barely have a scratch in them, your life-points may just be over half, but I can still finish you off with two hits from your own dragon."

"Here's the thing Ann, my dragon isn't staying around long enough for you to try." Jade responded as she played a card. "I activate a Wingbeat of Giant Dragon!"

"WHAT?!" Annastriana asked as the massive green dragon took flight destroying all Spell/Trap Cards on the field in the process, once the dragon flew off into the distance Ann's eyes narrowed. "Yes, you destroyed all Spell/Trap Cards, but you destroyed your own cards in the process."

"Funny thing about Jade Dragon Shrine, it has another effect." Jade responded as she held up her Field Spell. "If it's destroyed by a card effect, I can Special Summon a Jade Dragon from my graveyard with its effects negated so welcome back Adult Jade Dragon." Jade added as the large dragon returned to the field. "And now for my facedown cards, Jade Dragon's Descent and Flight of the Jade Dragon, I can only activate these cards if I destroy them with my own card's effect, Twin Twister, A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon, doesn't matter because they get the job done."

"And what job is that exactly?" Annastriana asked as she folded her arms and Jade grinned.

"Jade Dragon's Descent allows me to conduct an extra turn as soon as my turn ends since I control a Jade Dragon, at the end of it, I'll lose everything on the field and in my hand but that's not the important part." Jade added before smirking. "Because Flight of the Jade Dragon lets me Special Summon one Level Eight or Higher Jade Dragon monster from my deck and as soon as this bad boy lands, your baboon's toast, literally, because it allows me to destroy one monster you control." Jade added before retrieving the card from her deck. "Hope your ready for the best monster in my deck."

"Ancient Jade Dragon isn't your best monster?" Annastriana asked as she took a step back.

"I know in Dungeons and Dragons the Ancient Dragons are easily the most powerful dragons of the lot." Jade continued as she played the card. "But I also know that even among those creatures, there's a hierarchy of sorts, I summon Ancient Jade Dragon God!" Jade added as a massive roar filled the cave as the other duelists covered their ears and a gargantuan jade green dragon appeared on the field with a massive roar (10/5000/3000) and the massive dragon incinerated the baboon in no time flat. "I don't get to bring this guy out much because I can only Special Summon him through Flight of the Jade Dragon's effect, but I think the stats speak a lot more about what's about to happen."

"Indeed." Annastriana nodded as she folded her arms. "You have earned the destiny orb, you will find the others near other druidic settlements like this one but there are evil forces going after them so you must hurry, take your turn Jade."

"I will." Jade nodded before ending her turn and drawing her card, but she knew it was a formality. "And just to make sure you won't survive this I summon another Wyvern." Jade added as another Jade Dragon Wyvern appeared on the field with a roar. "Finish her off guys." Jade commanded and the three dragons unleashed their attacks on Annastriana bringing her life-points down to zero. "Whatever awaits us next, we'll be ready for it."

"You defeated me, that's more than enough proof that you are ready." Annastriana responded before motioning behind her. "As I said, the orb is yours, follow that path and you'll be out of here in no time." Ann added and the group nodded before she walked off.

"Can't wait to see sunlight again." Jade commented as she gathered up her cards and the ping went off to indicate that she had beaten a boss. "I'm ready to grab the orb when you guys are."

"Let's go." Andreas nodded before they walked into the chamber.

*twenty minutes later, outside the cave*

Once they had claimed the orb the group had followed the path out of the cave and were relieved to see sunlight, however one figure caught Andreas's attention as a beautiful female silver haired elven bard set on a rock playing her lute whilst humming along, it took Andreas a moment to recognize her before walking up.

"Chakra Silvers?" Andreas asked and Chakra looked up and grinned. "Suppose that means you are with my group."

"Indeed." The French duelist nodded before standing up. "I was beginning to think you'd never make it out of there." The former Obelisk Blue student added before turning to the other members of the group. "I've been filled in on what's happened so far, including the actions of another player."

"If you mean Ariana, she got a character switch." Jade nodded as she walked up to Chakra. "Do you have somewhere where we can regroup?"

"My camp's this way." Chakra nodded as she motioned behind her. "Follow me." She added before leading the group away.


	23. In the Jungle

An hour had passed since Jade's duel against Annastriana had concluded and the group was now at Chakra's campsite which was near the forest where Annastriana's tribe made their home, after the four duelists set up their tents they sat around the campfire and made sure that Chakra was caught up.

"So, this Ariana girl somehow got an evil questline, was Andreas's first opponent and murdered an NPC after bailing on the duel?" Chakra asked and the others nodded before she leant back. "And now she's with Nicola's group with a whole new character?"

"Essentially, yes." Andreas nodded as he warmed himself by the fire. "Nicola didn't go into specifics, but she said that Ariana has some sort of mental health issue, the kind that she has to take medication for by the truckload based on her description."

"Well, whatever it is, if she's able to work around it and have a successful career as a duelist, then all the more power to her." Chakra added before glancing over at Raven and Jade who were sitting next to each other. "And you two, your employed by Sophia."

"Yes, and in the interest of fairness, we know about as much as you do about this world." Raven said plainly as she leaned forward. "It would've been so easy for Sophia to give myself and Jade the inside track so to speak, but she even went as far as to intentionally keep herself and Kaiba in the dark."

"Won't lie, I've been tempted to hack into the servers and discover what I can before they detect the breach." Jade admitted as she cracked her fingers cockily. "But Sophia apparently anticipated that, she told me in no uncertain terms that any participating duelist caught breaching the system would be disqualified immediately and blacklisted from the Pro-Leagues."

"An honest CEO, they're almost as rare as an honest politician." Chakra chuckled causing the two older women to give her a curious look. "My family made their fortune in politics and finances, trust me, I know."

"Enough about us, what about you?" Zach asked and Chakra turned to him. "Last time you were in the spotlight, you competed in the French Nationals, the one where Adrienne Beaumont's iron grip on the title was finally loosened?"

"That's the one, in fact, I defeated Adrienne in the Quarter Finals in what many considered the upset of the year." Chakra explained as she flipped some hair over her shoulder. "Even though it was obvious that Adrienne's deck couldn't keep up with the new decks, everyone still expected her to come out with the win, the audience was left in stunned silence when a twenty two year old virtual unknown from Nice competing on the National Circuit for the very first time pretty much ensured that there would be a new French National Champion." Chakra added and Andreas nodded.

"I can imagine but considering you now live in Utah I'm assuming that you didn't win the tournament?" Andreas asked and Chakra nodded before sighing.

"I thought it was meant to be but alas, it wasn't, I was knocked out in the Semi-Finals by the eventual champion, if it weren't for the situation with my parents, I would've competed in next year's tournament but like Adrienne, my personal life forced me to move from France." Chakra added before grinning slightly. "But I'll take the Utah Regional Championship as a consolation prize."

"I did hear that you won the title, and that there was some controversy over a European immigrant winning a title in the US." Jade chimed in and Chakra shook her head.

"Let me set the record straight, I'm a legal immigrant in the US, same goes with Adrienne and Canada, I wouldn't have been able to compete in the tournament otherwise, not that it mattered to the idiots that complained." Chakra added before turning to Andreas. "You moved to New York from Germany if I remember correctly, I imagine that it was the same situation for you?"

"Yes, even then it was a long time before I competed in my first tournament on US soil as a US Citizen." Andreas nodded in understanding. "Nicola's family helped me with the immigration process, but it was a long process."

"And I can attest to that." Zach nodded before he stood up. "We still got a few hours left in the day, so I say we get a move on." Zach added and the others nodded before standing up and packing up their tents. _"Now that Andreas has mentioned Nic, I can't help but wonder how she's doing."_

*later, elsewhere in the world*

By now both Chloe and Lance's groups had moved on and were well on their way to their next destinations whilst Andreas's group was well on their way, as for Nicola's group? They were still on the hunt for the creature.

"We had better hurry." Ariana commented as the four duelists walked through the jungle, whilst their view of the sky was obscured by the mess of trees above them, they could see just enough to tell that it was getting dark. "The creature only comes out at night, and by the time Nicola defeated the Goblin Attack Force the session had ended."

"It's just one creature in a whole jungle." Nicola responded as she did her best to keep up with the others. "How hard can it be?"

"I think I know a way we can make things easier on ourselves." Phil commented as he got an idea and the two women turned to him. "Nic, you're a druid, right? Don't you have access to speak with animals or a similar spell?"

"Haven't really had a look at my spells since the first few minutes of game time." Nicola responded as she shook her head before getting her guide out and flipping over to the Spell list. "Yeah, I have that spell, I can also turn into animals, but I don't see how that will help me in a duel."

"Wasn't there a contestant on Domino City's Got Talent last year who claimed that his dog can play Duel Monsters?" Philp asked earning confused looks from Ariana and Mark. "I'm pretty sure I didn't dream that because I remember it going Viral."

"Oh yeah, I remember that now." Nicola responded with a slight laugh. "Me and Andreas were in Domino City for Chloe's 22nd birthday at the time, Lance actually said that if the owner wasn't full of shit then he was going to teach Rex and Nala to play."

"How did it go?" Phil asked and Nicola shook her head.

"The dog just ripped the cards up and got three Xs." Nicola responded with a laugh. "It's a good thing that he was using older cards that barely anyone remembers and not ultra-rare cards, otherwise I think Lance would've had a heart attack but no, he didn't teach Rex and Nala to play the game, and that just reminds me of why it's a bad idea for me to try to duel whilst wild shaped."

"I was hoping I'd get a chance to duel anyway." Ariana chimed in as she glanced down at her duel disk. "Haven't had a chance too since my brief stint as an evil character."

"If you want the next duel Ariana, it's all yours." Nicola nodded in understanding and Ariana grinned. "I'm still salty over Sophia not explaining how the Deck Master level system works until after I tried to use Rainbow Dragon as my deck master."

"You'd think she'd have covered that in the intro, but I guess Kaiba wanted to get things done as soon as possible." Phil responded with a shrug as they walked through the jungle. "I still think summoning Rainbow Dragon as your deck master was overkill."

"And I'm getting sick of you acting like I had summoned it against The Unhappy Maiden!" Nicola protested as she folded her arms. "The Goblin Attack Force could've taken out my Rainbow Dragon, if they were equipped with Megamorph."

"And if you had more life-points than them, and you had no set cards." Mark chimed in and Nicola shook her head in annoyance. "Let's just focus on finding this beast."

"Agreed!" Nicola nodded before they walked further into the jungle.

*an hour later*

The party had been traversing the jungle for about an hour before Ariana finally spotted something that could help them, a large clearing with a lake in the middle though it was hard to get a clear view of the lake.

"Looks like we're finally on the right track." Ariana whispered to the others as she had a quick glance around the clearing. "No sign of any beast but it might come here to drink from the lake."

"So, you want to wait here and…..." Phil trailed off before they heard splashing in the lake and frowned. "Or it could be there already."

"Maybe we should sneak up on it?" Nicola suggested as she turned to the others, almost as if on cue the skill check for stealth came up and every party member rolled their die.

And subsequently face-faulted at the result. "How?! How did we all manage to roll a natural one?!" Ariana asked as the stared at the result with a flabbergasted look on her face. "One or two I could understand, but all of us?!"

"We may as well see how it plays out." Phil responded as the party stepped forward, what followed was like something out of a Three Stooges sketch as they tripped over the same twig sending them stumbling into the clearing before the girls finally face-planted inches away from the edge of the lake, right before they hit the ground they saw the source of the splashing for a brief second as two beautiful half elven women were having sex in the lake and hadn't noticed them, the boys weren't so lucky as they tripped over the two women and fell into the lake face first interrupting the elves in the process as they swam over to investigate. _"Well, at least things can't get any worse." _Phil thought as he poked his head out from under the water.

It took him a second to realize that a woman's naked breasts were literally inches away from his face, the next second was filled with pain as the blonde elven woman slapped him across the cheek with one hand whilst covering her breasts with the other, her red haired companion used both hands to cover up her breasts and merely gave him an annoyed glare. _"Maybe I shouldn't mention this to Fran once the session ends." _Nicola thought as the boys quickly got out of the lake. _"Phil will never hear the end of it otherwise!"_

*elsewhere in the world*

"This had better be good." Sophia sighed as she stepped into the HUD area, her party had stopped to take a long rest and it was her turn on watch when she got the call. "You are interrupting my beauty sleep Rachel."

"Sorry Ms. Pegasus but after everything that's happened recently, I figured you could use some levity." Rachel, otherwise known as the lead technician for the tournament, said as she showed the results from the natural one, Sophia giggled a bit at first before outright laughing as the scene played out in front of her.

"I don't know whether to count that as a fail or a win." Sophia responded as she regained her composure just as Phil slapped across the face by the Half-Elf. "Wait, aren't they?"

"The Gemini Elves, they also happen to be major NPCs for Nicola's questline, yeah, I know." Rachel giggled as Sophia shook her head. "The fact that they are a lesbian couple was completely randomized, as was the fact that they were found having sex in a lake."

"If I didn't make the call to randomize the quests and starting locations, I'd sooner believe that Seto was a graceful loser every time he faced Yugi." Sophia responded as she shook her head. "That aside, I thought my father put the urban legend that Gemini Elf depicts a lesbian couple to rest long ago, when he said that they were sisters? I mean, it's right there, in the flavor text of the original card that they are twin elves!"

"He did but apparently the questline writers didn't get the memo, and let's be honest, it's not like the elves look like twins." Rachel responded with a shrug of her shoulders. "And it's not like there's only one Gemini Elf pair in the world, this pair happens to be from an Elf Tribe that control that area of the jungle, and also happen to be a couple."

"I swear, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that the questline writers were writing fanfiction." Sophia responded as she shook her head. "Any other developments or can I go to bed?"

"Chloe's group now has the two destiny orbs from the castle and Andreas's group has their first, and yes, the salvage was successful." Rachel responded and Sophia nodded. "Aside from that? There have been two more eliminations, the runner up in last year's Spanish Nationals got eliminated alongside the Korean national champion in a tag team duel against Dark Ruler Ha-Des and Terrorking Archfiend."

"_A country that's been divided for years united because of one duelist, there's some irony there alongside a political joke." _Sophia thought before shaking her head. "Like Gavin, they are free to remain on the island if they wish, keep me updated on any other developments or funny situations." Sophia added before getting an idea. "Actually, I'll think I'll stay and watch the duel, as an elf I only need four hours of sleep anyway." Sophia decided and Rachel nodded. _"Two beautiful half elves who happen to be lesbians having sex in a lake. Almost sounds like something you'd see in Dungeons and Dragons fanart, doubly so with them being the Gemini Elves." _Sophia thought as she shook her head.

*back at the lake*

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Phil pleaded as he rubbed his aching cheek and Mark just shook his head whilst Ariana and Nicola had their backs turned to give the two Half Elves privacy as they quickly got dressed, needless to say the interruption had killed the mood for the two Half Elven woman who weren't happy to say the least . "We couldn't see that you were in the lake because of the trees!"

"Why do you think we chose that lake to make love in?!" The blonde half elf responded with an annoyed glare at Phil. "What are you doing here anyway?!"

"What? We can't come and go through this jungle?" Mark asked and the redhead shook her head.

"This part of the jungle belongs to our tribe." The redhead responded as they got their clothes back on and the four duelists quickly realized that they were talking to Gemini Elves (4/1900/900) once they had their iconic dresses on. "And we'll protect it with our lives if we have too, now what are you doing here?" She added and Nicola glanced up to make sure that they had their clothes on before turning around.

"We're on the hunt for a mythical beast." Nicola responded as she walked up and Ariana glanced up before doing likewise. "We think it might lead to a Destiny Orb."

"Yeah, we know the beast you are after." The blonde elf responded once she had calmed down. "Thing is, a lot of hunters have come through these parts in search of and we have turned away most of them."

"If it helps, I defeated a group that was hunting the beast before we entered this area." Nicola responded as she walked up to the taller woman. "The Goblin Attack Force."

"We've dealt with them before, usually they get far into the jungle before we stop them." The red haired elf responded as she walked up. "And we dealt with them in no time but thanks for speeding things for us."

"Not so fast." The blonde elf responded as she folded her arms. "He still owes me an apology." She added before motioning to Phil.

"I said sorry about a hundred times since you slapped me, isn't that enough?" Phil asked and the blonde elf shook her head.

"You want to prove how sorry you are? Then volunteer someone to face us in a duel." Petra responded as a duel disk appeared on their arms. "If they win, we'll take you to the beast's grazing grounds, fail and you're on your own and believe me, without our help, it'll be days before you find it, we can find it in a few hours."

"In that case, I volunteer." Ariana responded as she stepped forward. "The name's Ariana and I've been itching for a duel all day."

"That's fine by me." The blonde elf responded as they activated their duel disks, seconds later the deck master selection screen appeared in front of Ariana and they glanced up at her. "We, the Gemini Elves, are serving as our own deck masters, but for the purpose of ease and the fact that your friend got too close to my breasts for comfort, I'll be dueling on our behalf."

"Fine." Ariana nodded before she looked over her selections. _"Level Four or lower, couldn't use Pumpking even if I wanted too!" _Ariana thought as she glanced at the monster who had served as her deck master for her duel against Andreas. "_Pumpking's Deck Master ability is powerful, but any good duelist could use it against me to deck me out as Andreas demonstrated." _Ariana thought before making her decision. _"Good thing I was able to choose a deck master before the character switch." _Ariana thought before making her choice. "My Deck Master is Castle of Dark Illusions!"

"_Now there's a name I haven't heard in ages." _Every other duelist present thought as the ominous floating castle appeared above the field (4/920/1930).

"We'll bring your castle tumbling down Ariana, we're going first." The red haired elf announced as the Blonde went over her hand.

"I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode." The blonde elf announced as the three cards appeared on the field. "And I activate Arcane Barrier!"

"I know what it does." Ariana nodded as the Spell Card appeared on the field. "It gets a counter every time I destroy a Spellcaster monster you control with a maximum of four counters, then you can destroy it and a Spellcaster monster you control to draw cards equal to the number of counters." Ariana added and the two elves nodded. "I had a feeling you were running a Spellcaster deck so thanks for the confirmation I guess."

"Our deck is full of surprises as you'll soon find out." The blonde elf responded with a cocky grin. "It's your move."

"I draw, and I suppose this is a good time to talk about my castle's deck master ability." Ariana announced as she drew her card and the castle glowed. "It acts like Arcane Barrier, only it gains counters during each of my standby phases, as for what those counters do, we'll get to that later." Ariana added before adding the card to her hand. "Until then, I set two cards facedown and I summon Armageddon Knight!" Ariana announced as she played the card and the knight in dark armor appeared on the field (4/1400/1200). "This triggers his effect, allowing me to send one Dark Type Monster from my deck to the graveyard."

"So, you'll deck out faster? That's fine by me." The blonde elf responded as she flipped some hair over her shoulder whilst Ariana sent her card to the graveyard.

"Says the Duel Monster using Arcane Barrier?" Ariana asked and the blonde elf went to respond but couldn't find the words. "Thought so, Armageddon Knight, attack her defense monster!" Ariana commanded and the knight charged into battle, however whilst the human duelists present were expecting Apprentice Magician what they got instead was a small fairy in a green dress carrying a tiny magic wand (1/0/0) who was quickly cut in half by Armageddon Knight. "That wasn't what I was expecting."

"Let me guess, you were expecting Apprentice Magician?" The red haired elf asked, and Ariana nodded as the blonde held up the monster. "What you got instead was Tiyana, Pixie of the Forrest, and before you ask, yes, she is a Spellcaster." The redhead added as Arcane Barrier glowed. "And now onto her effect."

"I'll take it from here." The blonde added as she sent the monster to the graveyard. "When Tiyana is sent to the graveyard as a result of battle, I can search my deck for another Pixie of the Forrest and add it to my hand."

"Just sounds like a worse version of Apprentice Magician to me." Ariana responded as she folded her arms whilst the blonde elf inputted commands into her duel disk. "At least with Apprentice Magician you can set up defenses from further attacks!"

"That maybe true, but that's where our facedown card comes into play." The blonde elf responded as she added the card to her hand before letting the deck auto-shuffle and activating her facedown card depicting the scene that Nicola's group had stumbled upon, minus the naked elves in the lake. "Sacred Forrest Lake Shrine lets me Special Summon the monster I just added to my hand, so I…."

"Wait, you were just having sex in a sacred lake?" Ariana asked with a raised eyebrow and the two elves raised an eyebrow. "Look, I have nothing against gay people but that just seems a little sacrilegious to me!"

"I suppose you are right." The redhead admitted before motioning to the lake. "Yes, that is the lake in the card, it is also a shrine to our tribe's goddess of fertility, and it is said that any couple that has sex in that lake will go on to live long lives and healthy children, whether they be adopted or birthed."

"Err, how many people have had sex in that lake?" Phil suddenly chimed in as it dawned on him and Mark and the two elves just shrugged as if to say, "too many to list". "How often is it cleaned?"

"Once a week." The blonde responded and the boys breathed a sigh of relief. "It has magic properties that allows it to clean itself whenever it is used but even that isn't perfect, though since you interrupted us, we will be returning to the lake to finish where we started after e take you to the grazing grounds."

"You're not worried about someone else stumbling upon this place?" Nicola asked and the blonde elf shrugged her shoulders.

"Not a lot of people venture this far into the jungle, besides, that lake also increases the sex drive of anyone in it." The blonde elf explained before seeing the priceless looks on Phil and Mark's faces. "Only if they were a couple or had hidden romantic feelings for each other and only if they spend at least five minutes in the water, you two were only in their for ten seconds at most." The blonde elf assured them, and Phil and Mark breathed sighs of relief.

"_I could make a premature ejaculation joke about that but that'd be too easy, as for the magic properties of the lake. Personally, I think it'd just be easier to eat healthier and raise your kids right." _Ariana thought as a massive sweat-drop rolled down her head. _"Besides, I may be a virgin but the thought of having sex in a body of water just sounds wrong to me." _Ariana thought before shaking her head._ "But I guess since this is virtual reality, any couples who do have sex in that lake won't have to worry about that, did I really just think that sentence?! Right now, I'm just glad that telepathy isn't a thing!" _Ariana thought as she glanced over at the lake briefly before turning her attention back to the elves. "Let's get back on track before we make the boys feel any more awkward, what does your trap do?"

"Whenever a monster with the word pixie in its name is destroyed, another copy of that monster is set facedown." The redhead explained as another facedown monster appeared on the field. "It has other effects, but we'll get to those later."

"_I was about to say, it'd be easier to just run Apprentice Magician if that was all it did." _Ariana thought as she glanced over at the continuous trap card before going over the cards in her hand. "That's all from me." Ariana announced and the blonde elf drew her card.

*back at the HUD*

Sophia had been watching the proceedings including the conversation during the duel, and as the elves described the lake, she couldn't help but shake her head.

"A magical lake that's the sacred shrine to a fertility god that grants boons to couples of either gender who have sex in it?" Sophia asked with a facepalm as she watched the duel. "At least that explains why those elves randomly decided to fuck in a lake but still, I thought I hired former writers for Dungeons and Dragons, not writers from the Porn Industry,"

"I'm just as surprised as you are." Rachel responded as she shook her head in disbelief. "I suppose you'll want that toned down for the MMO's public release?"

"If it's tied into the true love questline like I think it is, then there might not be a point." Sophia responded as she shook her head. "Just tell me one thing, the party stumbling upon the elves mid-coitus, was that randomized?"

"Hold on, I'll check." Rachel responded as she typed away at her keyboard.

"_That lake will be the least of your worries soon." _The demonic voice rang out in Sophia's head and she instinctively turned around to see if there was anyone behind her. _"Because soon, the world as you know it will end."_

"Sophia?" Rachel's voice rang out breaking Sophia's concentration before she turned around. "I checked, it really depends on what time of the day the party gets there, early morning and the lake will be deserted, late morning/later afternoon and there's a slight chance that they'll stumble upon a male/female elven couple getting dressed after a sex session that leave before the party can interact, early evening….well, you saw what happened."

"Yes, every teenaged boy who's ever fantasized about the Gemini Elves come true." Sophia responded as she ran a hand down her face. "I suppose your about to tell me that by late evening, there's a full blown orgy?"

"How did you guess?" Rachel asked and Sophia face-faulted. "I suppose you were joking?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes." Sophia responded as she got back to her feet. "Okay, don't tone down the lake for the public release but tone down the events that can happen in the lake, the tournament might be strictly eighteen or older but the public release won't be and I don't want parents complaining about their kids walking in on a glorified porn scene post release!"

"Will do, I suppose you want to get back to the duel?" Rachel asked and Sophia nodded.

*back at the duel*

"Well, since you've already told us about your deck master's ability, we'll activate ours." The redhead announced before briefly kissing the blonde elf on the cheek, initially Ariana ignored this assuming that it was just a display of affection from the couple until Arcane Barrier started glowing again.

"It's called Sweet Kiss, though next time I would appreciate some mouth to mouth action." The blonde elf added, and the redhead shook her head before blondie motioned to the Continuous Spell Card. "We can't attack the turn we use this effect but once per turn we can double the number of counters on any Spell Card we control."

"_Might have to tell Chloe about that after the session." _Nicola thought as the counters on Arcane Barrier increased to two. _"It won't affect her Silent Magician cards, but I can still think of a few of her cards that would benefit from that effect, not sure what she'd think of the name or how it's activated however."_

"But enough about that for now." The blonde elf continued before playing a card. "I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn."

"_Compared to some Deck Master abilities I've heard about from other players, that seems rather weak." _Ariana thought as she drew her card and Castle of Dark Illusions gained another counter, Ariana briefly thought she heard the whispers from behind her but brushed them off. _"Then again, they probably have something else that will benefit from that something much more lethal than Arcane Barrier which, whilst powerful, is nothing but a draw engine for Spellcaster decks." _Ariana thought before looking at her drawn card. _"And speaking of draw engines." _Ariana thought before playing her card. "I activate Allure of Darkness! I draw two cards in exchange for banishing a card from my hand." Ariana announced before drawing her cards and pocketing another.

"Sorry but we'll be doing the draws around here!" The blonde elf responded as one of her facedown cards flipped up. "Null and Void, meaning you have to show those cards to us and discard them."

"_Malaka!" _The Greek-Iranian woman cussed in Greek before Ariana turned the drawn cards around, Foolish Burial and One for One. "Consider yourselves lucky, those cards would've really helped me set up for my next move." Ariana added before she discarded the cards. "But unless you have a way to negate traps, I'm about to get them back."

"Your bluffing." The redhead scoffed before Ariana's facedown card flipped up depicting a robed spellcaster making a pact with a shadowy figure. "Or not."

"Wizard's Pact with the Dark requires that I control at least one Dark Type Monster on my side of the field, in exchange I…." Ariana cried out in pain as she felt a sharp stinging pain in her head. "Sorry, headache, as I was saying, this allows me to get back the two cards I was just forced to discard free of charge." Ariana added before retrieving the cards. _"Wait, that wasn't the trap card I set! The Trap Card was Dark Illusion, I've never even seen that card…...oh shit!"_

*back at the HUD*

"You have got to be fucking kidding me!" Sophia commented as she ran a hand down her face and Rachel typed away furiously at her keyboard. "How the fuck did the demon infiltrate the system?!"

"I don't know, I'm trying to set the duel to before the Elves activated Null and Void, hopefully that will undo the demon's efforts." Rachel responded as she typed away at the keyboard. "Do you want to call off the session?"

"If we do that at this point then there's no way that we can get Ariana's duel against the Elves back to it's original point, and after two duels in a row that ended prematurely, I think she'd rather see this through." Sophia responded as she shook her head. "Does Kaiba know?"

"I'm on the other line." Kaiba responded as he appeared on screen. "I'm in a different HUD area, but Rachel has filled me in." Kaiba added before nodding. "I think I know a way we can undo this, but it'll be risky."

"Not as risky as letting the demon run rampant through the system, and I want to know how that dark card got in Ariana's deck!" Sophia responded as she shook her head. "Do whatever's necessary to ensure that the demon is expelled from the system and that Ariana can resume her duel, I'll explain the situation in the post session meeting."

"Are you sure about that?" Kaiba asked and Sophia turned to him. "You'd essentially be admitting to the whole tournament roster that some supernatural force has it's eyes set on the tournament."

"Most of the roster was present for Chloe's duel against Gavin on the boat to Duelist Kingdom." Sophia responded as she shook her head. "They must have suspected that something was up, because that was not something you see every day, even in this crazy sport of ours where some ancient evil tends to crawl out of the woodwork at most major tournaments!"

"True enough." Kaiba nodded before a ping rang out. "What happened."

"It's been set back. Ariana's set card is now Dark Illusion and Null and Void has just been activated." Rachel explained and the two CEOs breathed sighs of relief. "At the same time, I recommend ending the session as soon as Ariana's duel ends, we can't be certain if the demon is still in the system otherwise."

"Much as it pains me to say otherwise, do it, the session might end early but there's more at stake right now." Sophia responded with a nod and Rachel nodded. _"I'm going to need a goddamn drink after the session ends!"_

*back at the duel*

It took Ariana a moment to realize that the internal clock had been turned back to when the Elves had activated Null and Void, though she was still frustrated she revealed the two Spell Cards to the Elves before discarding them.

"_Set cards are Dark Illusion and Skull Servant Burial, don't know what happened there but I'd rather not think about it." _Ariana thought before glancing up at the elves. "Well, if I can't have those Spell Cards, I'll settle for this! Armageddon Knight, attack the facedown monster on the right!" Ariana commanded and the knight charged forward…

"Nice try but not good enough." The redhead responded as the knight's sword bounced off a huge shield that was being welded by a much smaller pixie. "Don't ask how Reya, Pixie Defender of the Forrest is holding up that shield." The redhead added with a shrug. (4/0/2000).

"But what is important is the fact that her defense points are too high for your knight to crack." The blonde elf added as Ariana's life-points dropped to 7400. "She has another effect but that'll come into play later."

"_If I had been able to use Foolish Burial and One for One, I wouldn't need to worry about her monster's effect." _Ariana thought before glancing at her facedown card. _"Better late than never." _Ariana thought as she activated her trap card. "I activate Skull Servant Burial, I currently have one Skull Servant in my graveyard thanks to Armageddon Knight and two in my hand, this trap card allows me to send the remaining two Skull Servants to the graveyard and draw two cards." Ariana announced as she discarded the cards. "Unless your other facedown card is another Null and Void."

"We weren't that lucky." The redhead responded as she shook her head and Ariana drew two cards. "And speaking of lucky, you seem stressed, why don't you go for a dip in the lake with your companions?"

"Yeah well, a lot of weird shit has been…." Ariana trailed off before blushing like a madwoman. "What?!"

"Works wonders for us and I'm sure your male companions will be gentle with you." The blonde added and Ariana ran a hand down her face.

"Let me set the record straight." Ariana stated before pointing to herself. "I'm single." Ariana added before pointing to Phil. "He's married." Ariana added before motioning to Mark. "And he's got a girlfriend back home, didn't you say that the lake's magical properties only work on couples?"

"We did but it does work in mysterious ways." The blonde responded as she flipped some hair over her shoulder. "We and several elves from neighboring tribes have orgies here every night."

"And that is way too much information." Ariana responded as a massive sweat-drop rolled down the back of her head. _"Did a duel monster seriously just tell me to get laid?! And with two guys who are far higher on the Pro-League totem pole than me?! And here I thought the crazy shit would be saved for if and when I went off my bi-polar meds!"_

"And we're going to have to back up Ariana on this one." Phil added as he ran a hand down his face and Mark nodded in agreement. "I'm having enough trouble trying to come up with an explanation to my wife for how I got inches away from your naked breasts, and I'm still not sure how I missed the rest of your naked body whilst underwater, without her kicking me in the balls!"

"Now can we please continue the duel before Ariana dies of embarrassment?!" Mark suggested with a face-palm and the three women quickly nodded in agreement.

"I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Ariana announced as she set the two cards and the blonde elf drew her card. _"Maybe I should've let Phil handle this in hindsight." _Ariana thought before realizing something. "One quick question before you start you given that you've already admitted to having orgies in that lake, and I can't believe I have to say that sentence out loud, how are neither of you pregnant?"

"If it wasn't already obvious, we prefer the company of other women to men." The redhead responded before she shared a quick kiss with the blonde elf. "But even if we didn't, the lake's magical properties prevents that from happening unless the couple intends to conceive children in it."

"So, the lake basically acts like a condom." Ariana responded with a deadpan expression on her face as it took a moment for it to sink in for her companions, followed by another moment to face-fault, when Ariana saw the confused looks on the elves' faces, she shook her head. "Forget I said anything and just take your turn." Ariana told them and the elves nodded whilst her companions got up. _"I just said the sentence "So, the lake basically acts like a condom" outloud, I'm half tempted to ask Sophia just what the writers are smoking when I check in with her tomorrow!"_

"Wait, I have a question of my own." Phil chimed in and Ariana groaned in annoyance. "Don't worry, I'll make this as quick as possible, "I could've sworn I read somewhere that the Gemini Elves were twins? And yet, you're a couple?"

"The original Gemini Elves were twins, but it is a title that has been passed down for generations to two elves that specialize in shared spells." The redhead responded as she flipped some hair over her shoulder. "It doesn't even have to be two female elves, the last pair were male, and we are hardly the only gay couple to inherit the title."

"_Well, that makes me feel a little better." _Phil thought before noticing Ariana motioning him forward, he walked forward, and Ariana whispered in his ear.

"Why didn't you ask that before the duel?" Ariana whispered with an annoyed tone to her voice. "I didn't want to say anything because I wanted to get the duel done."

"I was trying to think of a way to reference it without mentioning the original card text." Phil responded before returning to his spot.

"If you are done asking us questions about our personal lives, it's my move." The blonde elf stated with an annoyed huff before looking over her hand. "And now you're in trouble, I tribute my two monsters to summon Krekar, King of the Pixies." The blonde elf announced as she played her card and the two defense monsters vanished, in their place stood a tall, regal king in a green robe that looked especially feminine (6/2200/1200). "But before I continue, I activate Call of the Haunted to bring back Reya." The blonde elf announced as the smaller pixie returned to the field.

"Let me guess, you plan on sacrificing Reya to Arcane Barrier's effect to get some extra draws?" Ariana asked once she surveyed the field and the blonde elf nodded. "And I suppose your going to forgo using your deck master ability?"

"Actually, no, I activate Sweet Kiss." The blonde elf responded before kissing the redhead though this time it was mouth to mouth, and a lot more involved, whilst Ariana was patient at first when she saw the blonde elf's hand going up the redhead's dress, she cleared her throat loudly. "What? Not enjoying the show?"

"I'm sure my male companions were but I wasn't, besides I'd like to get this duel done before my twentieth birthday!" Ariana asserted and the two elves nodded reluctantly before they went back to business. _"Funny thing is, I'm beginning to think that they make a cute couple! But if they are going to make out every time, they use Sweet Kiss I'll change my mind."_

"As we discussed before, we give up our battle phase to double the number of counters on Arcane Barrier." The redhead continued as Arcane Barrier glowed. "And I think you know what's coming next."

"That's right, we sacrifice Reya and Arcane Barrier to draw four cards." The blonde added as their two cards vanished and she drew twice. "But why stop there? I activate Magic Planter to destroy Call of the Haunted and draw two more cards."

"_I'm getting flashbacks to my duel against Andreas already." _Ariana thought as the blonde elf drew twice. _"Granted, she hasn't gone through as many cards as I did in that duel but at the rate they are going? They will deck themselves out and I doubt their programming will allow them to bail like I did." _Ariana thought as the elves went over their hand. _"Though Sophia will probably laugh her ass off at the irony of this situation."_

"Next I activate Pot of Buried Dreams." The blonde elf announced as she played the card which depicted a gravestone with the infamous Pot of Greed carved into it. "Are you familiar with Pot of Desires? This Spell Card works the same way, only we have to mill ten cards from our deck before drawing two cards." The blonde elf added before they milled ten cards and drew twice. "Almost there, just a little more and we'll have you were we want too."

"You just drew six cards and milled another ten. That's more then what I go through with my deck and my deck relies on having certain monsters in the graveyard!" Ariana pointed out and the blonde elf grinned. _"This can't be a case of her being a stereotypical dumb blonde, there has to be more to this."_

"We pass our turn." The blonde elf announced catching Ariana and the others off guard before she picked up eight cards in her hand. "However, as we are eight cards over the hand size limit, we must discard those eight cards we just drew."

"_Or maybe it is, they did just waste three perfectly good draw cards in the same turn." _Ariana thought as she drew a card and added it to her hand as the castle gained another counter. "I set one card facedown and I switch my knight to defense mode." Ariana announced as she set the card and her knight knelt into defense position. "Your move."

"Is that all?" The blonde elf asked mockingly before drawing her card. "I activate Foolish Burial! We know you run it in your deck, so we won't bother explaining this card's effect to you." The blonde elf announced before retrieving a card from her graveyard and sending it to the graveyard. "And now we'll go on the attack! Krekar, attack her knight!" The blonde elf commanded, and the king charged forward….

"Thanks for that!" Ariana announced as her facedown card flipped up. "Sekeretsu Armor might be an old card but it'll still dethrone your king!" Ariana added as the hideous armor appeared on the king before exploding. "And now your life-points are wide open, about time I took the lead."

"That's right, you just screwed up big time!" Phil added before seeing the massive grins on their faces. "Right?"

"Wrong, we were counting on that, when the king is destroyed by a card effect and our opponent's life-points are lower than ours, his effect activates." The redhead explained before her grin grew wider. "It swaps the contents of our decks with our graveyards."

"Excuse me?!" Ariana asked as her eyes widened, Ariana quickly retrieved the cards in her graveyard and did a count up. _"Three Skull Servants, one Allure of Darkness, one Foolish Burial, one copy of One for One, one copy of Skull Servant Burial and the Sekeretsu Armor I just activated, only eight cards compared to their eighteen?" _Ariana thought before looking up. "But that only leaves me with eight cards in my deck!"

"And nineteen in ours." The blonde added with a big grin on her face. "But we're feeling generous, so we'll speed things up with Spellbook inside the Pot!"

"_Fuck! That'll leave me with five cards!" _Ariana thought as her eyes widened even further before both women drew their cards. "So, this is your big plan? Deck me out?"

"Essentially." The redhead nodded as she folded her arms. "We can only use the king's effect once per duel but let's be honest, why would we use this effect again?"

"Because you realized that beating me by decking out is bullshit, maybe?" Ariana asked and the elves scoffed simultaneously, and Ariana let an annoyed sigh. _"At least Sophia isn't here to watch this."_

*back at the HUD*

"Well, that's a turnup for the books, isn't it?" Sophia asked as she watched the turn proceed on the monitor, Ariana's frustration with the situation was clear as the elves ended their turn. "Rachel, you told Ariana what would happen if she bailed on another duel, right?"

"Yes, she knows that it'll count as a loss and since she doesn't have a destiny orb yet, she'll be eliminated." Rachel nodded as they watched the duel. "There are ways Ariana can win this, but it all depends on her next move."

"Rachel, it's easier to count the number of duels that didn't end that way since my father created the game." Sophia responded as she shook her head. "Speaking off, are things ready for the premature session end?"

"Everything's set, the only active duel at the moment is Ariana vs. the elves." Rachel nodded in response as they watched Ariana rack her brain. "If it goes on any longer, I'll end the session during the duel."

"Hopefully it won't come to that." Sophia nodded as she turned her attention to the duel.

*back at the duel*

"_If I bail, I'm out of the tournament! If they deck me out, then I'm out of the tournament." _Ariana thought as she went over her hand. _"Heads, they win, tails, I lose, there's no way in hell I'm using Foolish Burial now, I need all the cards in my deck that I can get."_

"_Did you forget about your deck master's ability so soon." _A female voice that sounded suspiciously like her doubleganger from her dream and vision responded and Ariana blinked.

"_Who?" _Ariana thought before glancing over at Castle of Dark Illusions. _"My castle has three counters on it, that's more than enough to end the duel, but is it worth it? For all I know, they have a hand trap ready to go that'll stop me in my tracks!"_

"_You won't know until you try." _The voice responded and Ariana grit her teeth.

"_A mentally ill person listening to the voices in her head, when has that not gone wrong?" _Ariana thought before motioning to the castle. "I activate the Deck Master Ability of Castle of Dark Illusions! I give up half of my life-points and all three counters to Special Summon as many monsters with the same name from my graveyard as I want, I only need three thanks to your monster."

"And what good will that do you?" The blonde elf asked with a look of confusion on her face as Ariana's life-points dropped to 3700. "We still have all our life-points."

"Not for long, I summon King of Skull Servants." Ariana added as she played the cards and the three Skull Servants appeared on the field (1/0/0). "They don't look like much, but they gain a thousand attack points for each Skull Servant in my graveyard, and thanks to your king's ability, most of my deck is in the graveyard and members of the Wight archetype count as Skull Servant in the graveyard." Ariana explained as their attacks increased to the point where any one attack from either of them would be overkill. "Here's the kicker, I can only use this deck master ability once per duel and I can only attack once this turn, at the end of the turn all of my monsters will be destroyed, and I'll draw one card for each monster on my side of the field."

"Death or glory in other words." The blonde nodded in understanding before grinning. "But can you take that risk?"

"I don't have a choice, King of Skull Servants, attack her life-points directly and end this duel!" Ariana commanded and the king lunged forward ready to finish the duel.

"From my hand, I summon Ryoka, Avenger of the Pixies." The blonde announced as she played the card and a small, blonde woman in heavy armor appeared on the field (1/0/0). "She doesn't look like much but she's about to end this duel."

"As we have over ten cards in our graveyard with the words "Pixie" in it's title, Ryoka targets your king and destroys him." The redhead added as Ryoka charged into battle. "Nice try."

"Thanks, I've been waiting to use this trap." Ariana responded as her facedown card flipped up. "Dark Illusion! You just said so yourself, Ryoka targets a monster and as King of Skull Servants is a dark type monster, this trap card negates her effect and destroys her." Ariana added and the elves' ayes widened as the pixie was consumed by dark light. "This means a replay occurs, and unless you have another hand trap, this duel is mine." Ariana added and the elves lowered their heads in response. "Thought not, King of Skull Servants, finish what you started." Ariana added before the king slashed the elves with his bony hand ending the duel.

"_And to think, you doubted whether this would work." _The voice added as the holograms disappeared and even as she got the ping to indicate that she had won the duel Ariana frowned.

"_I need to tell Sophia about this, that dream last night and that vision in the shower was one thing but hearing voices?" _Ariana thought as the elves walked up to her. _"I have at least two hours to go before I need to take my medication again, plenty of time to figure out how to tell her."_

"Well, we are women of our words, we will take you to it's grazing area." The redhead announced breaking Ariana's train of thought in the process. "But are you sure you won't join us for a dip?"

"I'm sure." Ariana nodded not noticing that the world was starting to break down. _"I told myself that I'd wait until marriage before losing my virginity anyway, regardless of what my sexuality ends up being." _Ariana thought before looking up. "We're ready when…." Ariana trailed off once they realized that the session was about to end. "Wasn't the last session longer?"

"The session has ended." The computerized voice rang out and before the other members of the party could respond they were consumed by a bright light.

*in the real world*

Like before, once the session ended the duelists were ejected from the pods though this time there was more confusion among the duelists as Sophia gathered them for the meeting.

"Apologies for the abrupt end ladies and gentlemen." Sophia called out to the crowd as they quietened down. "There was a significant technical issue with the equipment that required the session end early so that the technicians could troubleshoot it, to compensate, the next session will be an hour longer." Sophia added and tis seemed to calm down the rest of the duelists. "There is some good news and bad news however, the good news is that several parties have claimed their first destiny orbs." Sophia added and the crowd cheered. "The bad news is? With that triumph came adversity as two duelists were eliminated during that session, as with Gavin Freeman, they are free to remain on the island as long as they wish."

"What about my duel?" A male voice rang out from the crowd and Sophia turned to him revealing an Irish Teenager with short black spiky hair and blue eyes. "I was just about to have my first duel when the session ended."

"I understand your frustration, when the next session begins, you will be back where you started, and I wish you luck in that duel." Sophia responded and the Irish duelist nodded seemingly satisfied with the answer. "Dinner time will proceed as normal but with extra time allotted due to the abrupt end, if you wish to grab a table early then that's your prerogative, until the next session, you are all dismissed." Sophia added and the crowd started to disperse, once Sophia spotted Ariana in the crowd, she rushed up to catch up with the teenager. "Ariana."

"Sophia?" Ariana asked as she glanced up at the taller woman and winced at the look on her face. "Something the matter?"

"We need to talk, my office, five minutes." Sophia added before picking up the pace. "Don't be late." Sophia added before disappearing into the crowd.

"_I'd bet my deck that this has something to do with what happened during my duel with the elves." _Ariana thought as she walked out of the pod room. _"I just hope I'm not in trouble again." _


	24. Power Surge

The five minutes Ariana had to get to Sophia's office flew by, largely because Ariana had gone straight there as soon as most of the other duelists were on their way, Ariana took a deep breath before knocking on the door to Sophia's office.

"Door's open Ariana." Sophia called out to her and Ariana opened the door, Sophia was behind her desk as always and Kaiba was in the office as well. "Take a seat." Sophia stated simply and Ariana sat down. "Let me get this out of the way, no, you're not in trouble, this is about something that occurred during your last duel."

"You mean when my copy of Dark Illusion get replaced by that broken card, right?" Ariana asked as she shifted her weight and Sophia nodded. "I don't know what happened, I tried to use Allure of Darkness, they made me discard the cards I drew with Null and Void and…..." Ariana trailed off as she brushed some hair over her shoulder. "Remember what I said yesterday when you confronted me about my actions with my first character?"

"You weren't in control of your actions, yes, that has been established." Sophia nodded before it dawned on her. "Same thing happened?"

"Kind off, I activated that broken card even though it was originally Dark Illusion as I said and I got the sharp, stinging pain in my head." Ariana added before shaking her head. "I don't know what happened next, but I bet you had something to do with it?"

"In a sense, I was watching in one of the HUD areas at the time, as soon as you played that dark card the technician got to work resetting the duel back to when they activated Null and Void." Sophia added and Ariana nodded. "The only reason why we didn't do that during your duel against Andreas is simple, I wasn't in a HUD area at the time and I wasn't told of your actions until after the fact, and before you ask, no you can't exploit it, the ability to turn back time on a duel is mine alone and I need the assistance of my lead technician to do it, not only that but it's only to be used in emergencies like the spirit somehow getting into the game world."

"Is that why the session ended early?" Ariana asked and Sophia and Kaiba nodded. "So, what's going to happen now?"

"When the session begins again, the elves will take your group to the destiny orb, originally the session would've ended at that point, but you know what happened there." Sophia added and Ariana nodded. "What you and your group do afterwards is up to you but staying with the elves for the night seems your best option, just don't return to that lake for one of their orgies."

"Wasn't planning too, I want to save myself until marriage anyway." Ariana explained as she shook her head. "Anything else? I'm starving and I still need to take my meds."

"You are free to go unless you have something else to discuss." Sophia responded and Ariana paused.

"There is one thing, probably minor but towards the end of my duel I started hearing voices in my head, I don't know if it was because it was coming time for me to take my meds or not but this voice, which sounded a lot like my doubleganger from the dream and the vision I told you about was giving me tips on how to win." Ariana added and Sophia's frown deepened. "Yes, I took my meds this morning, I told you during the check in, and I plan on taking my meds before dinner."

"We'll discuss this voice you've been hearing another time Ariana, until then you are dismissed." Sophia responded and Ariana nodded before leaving the room, once the door was closed Sophia turned to Kaiba. "What do you think?"

"If this was an isolated incident then I'd be thinking that bi-polar disorder was the least of Ariana's problems." Kaiba responded as he stepped forward. "But you told me about the dream she had and that vision she had whilst in the shower, frankly I don't know what to think."

"First time for everything I guess." Sophia nodded as she shifted her weight. "What if this voice is a Duel Spirit Partner? Most duelists with those first encounter them when they are in their late teens/early twenties, I know I encountered Thunder Unicorn when I was seventeen."

"It's possible but I can't think of any card in her deck that would be a good Duel Spirit Partner." Kaiba nodded as he folded his arms. "I say we keep an eye on the situation, for all we know the stress of her first major tournament is getting to Ariana."

"Sadly, that wouldn't be the first time." Sophia sighed as she nodded in agreement before standing up. "For now, let's grab a bite to eat."

"Agreed." Kaiba nodded before they left Sophia's office.

*in the dining hall*

By now the dining hall was mostly empty with a few duelists meeting up there to catch up with friends or their spouses, in Phil's case he had met with Fran in the far corner of the dining room and after a few minutes of debating how he should handle what happen in the jungle he decided to just flat out tell her and hope for the best.

The last thing he expected his wife to do, was laugh her ass off so loudly that it caused several other duelists to nearly jump out of their seats. "That is bloody hilarious!" Fran added as she barely regained her composure. "Not only did you interrupt the Gemini Elves having an intimate moment with each other, but you got a close up view of their tits?!"

"Well, the blonde one more so, and I'm still not sure how I missed the rest of her naked body whilst I was underwater considering how close I got to them." Phil responded as he shook his head whilst looking at the menu. "Who eats Steak Tartare? Honestly! That's raw meat!"

"Meat that's been cooked chemically by some kind of acid component." Fran corrected him and Phil raised an eyebrow. "My dad's a retired chef, remember? He may have retired last year but after I told him that we were getting married he made sure that I knew how to cook a decent meal, alongside some culinary knowledge."

"Yeah but he was a pub chef, it's not like we're talking about a chef on the level of Chelsea's older sister." Phil pointed out and Fran shook her head. "Besides, I don't care what the chefs, I'll stick to something that's actually seen the inside of a frying pan or oven."

"Yeah, I will admit, Steak Tartare is an acquired taste." Fran admitted as she shrugged her shoulders. "So, what were their tits like?" Fran asked causing Phil to face-fault out of his chair. "Oh, come on Phil, you can't expect me to ask that after you tell me that story!"

"You could've at least waited until we were back in our room!" Phil protested as he righted his chair and sat back down on it. "I mean, Sophia seemed to be going for realistic proportions rather than breasts so big that they are liable to knock a guy out if the girl turns around, but they were pretty big, I guess? I think the blonde one's breasts were slightly bigger, and I just realized what you just made me said in a dining room." Phil deadpanned as Fran nearly fell out of her chair laughing. "Besides, the fact that I got that close to a female duel monsters' breasts wasn't even the weirdest part of that session."

"Yeah, Viagra in the form of a lake that also doubles as a condom takes the cake there!" Fran responded once she regained her composure. "Seriously, I'm surprised you didn't ask "what the hell are the writers on" during the post session meeting!"

"I get the feeling that if Sophia had to list all the drugs that the writers were on, the technical issue would've been fixed, and the next session would've started by the time she was finished." Phil deadpanned as he shook his head before noticing that the other duelists were coming in. "Let's change the subject before I embarrass myself in front of a crowd of duelists."

"Wouldn't be the first time." Fran responded as she shook her head. "Or do I need to point out how you stepped up for your Battle City Semi-Finals match last year with a tear in the back of your jeans?"

"I thought we agreed that we would never speak of that again!" Phil protested before they picked up the menus.

*elsewhere in the castle*

By now most of the duelists had entered the dining hall ready for their evening meal, all except one who was back in her room.

"_Seriously, I've built god knows how many gaming pcs and have a master's degree in computer science from The University of Queensland and Sophia didn't think to ask me to help Rachel with the technical issue?" _Jade thought with an annoyed sighed as she sat down in front of her Alienware Laptop and booted it up, the Australian woman had elected to skip dinner to focus on the task assigned to her before the first session started. _"If anything, that just proves that it's not a technical issue, I've collaborated with the staff at I2 whenever a technical problem arose before."_

"_Surprised Sophia never hired you onto the technical staff at I2." _Ancient Jade Dragon commented, and Jade shook her head before undoing her ponytail and letting her hair flow free.

"_And I would've gladly accepted that position, many of my former classmates would kill for a job like that." _Jade responded before putting her hairband down and grabbing a hairbrush. _"But I'm also a rising star of the Australian Dueling Scene, all it would take is one whiff that I work for the company that makes Duel Monsters Cards for me to get blacklisted for life."_

"_And yet your content to work for Sophia?" _Ancient Jade Dragon responded, and Jade shook her head before finishing the brushing of her hair.

"_Difference is, I work directly for her, no one's going to scream conflict of interest if they find out Sophia's gardener plays Duel Monsters on the side." _Jade responded before her laptop finally booted up. _"And if I do get outed, I can just say that I'm Sophia's tech support and I don't work directly for I2, it's not like I'd be lying."_

"_What about that legal trouble you mentioned during your duel." _Ancient Jade Dragon pointed out and Jade sighed as she worked away at her laptop,

"_I was never convicted, remember? Granted, neither was Michael Jackson during his life-time but hacking isn't exactly comparable to touching kids inappropriately." _Jade responded as she worked away at her laptop. _"Besides, I wasn't hacking into those government records for Sophia, I was doing that for a friend."_

"_Said friend subsequently turned that info over to a terrorist group." _Ancient Jade Dragon pointed out and Jade frowned. _"You realize how lucky you are that the plot was foiled, yes?"_

"_Sophia said as much when I met up with her after the trial, well, after she read me the riot act." _Jade pointed out before taking a sip from her drink. _"As for that friend, I couldn't cut all ties with that asshole fast enough! He betrayed my trust by saying that no one would get hurt, and technically speaking, no one did." _Jade added before putting her drink down. _"But only after I sent in an anonymous tip about the plot, I'm pretty sure he ratted on me in retaliation anyway."_

"_And you are lucky that Sophia paid for your legal consul, otherwise you'd be spending life in prison alongside your friend." _Ancient Jade Dragon pointed out and Jade sighed.

"_I wouldn't call being disowned by my family without getting a chance to explain myself "lucky", funny how my boss was the only one to listen to my side of the story during that whole debacle." _Jade responded as she waited for the page to load. _"Besides, the incident has largely been forgotten in the Dueling Scene because I was found innocent, and if it can remain that way, I won't complain, even if I did lose her along…" _Jade trailed off before reading the info on the screen in front of her, without a second's hesitation she copied that link and sent it in an e-mail to Sophia before standing up. _"Let's hope there's still a table available."_

"_Don't you miss her?" _Ancient Jade Dragon asked and Jade glanced over at a framed picture on the table which showed Jade back when she was still blonde next to a brunette Aboriginal woman with the same hair length as her and it was clear from the way the two women were embracing each other that they were close, or even intimate.

"_More than you can fucking imagine." _Jade sighed before she leaned over and intentionally tipped the picture over causing it to fall facedown. _"If it weren't for her, I would've fallen in with the Orichalcos Duelists five years ago, but she's gone and there's nothing I can do about it." _Jade thought before leaving the room. _"Why the fuck did I bring that picture with me?"_

*back at the dining hall*

The dining hall was mostly full but Jade and a few others were able to find places to sit and order food, the others were just talking amongst themselves.

"So, Jason and Chakra are in the tournament?" Lance asked Chloe as their appetizers arrived, his was a Pancetta Risotto and hers was a Mushroom Ravioli. "I know you said that most of our graduating class is competing, but I am wondering who else we'll run into."

"I'm not sure, Brandon said that Caitlin Acosta is in his group as she's doing her comeback tour after her medical scare last year." Chloe shrugged before they started eating their food. "But aside from the obvious, I haven't seen most of the graduating class."

"There are a lot of duelists competing, some I've never heard off like the current Italian National Champ as she joined my group after we finally left that damn tomb." Lance responded with a shrug as he glanced around the room. "She seemed nice enough, but I am interested in what deck she runs."

"We did miss the Italian Nationals because of that tournament and you forgetting to DVR it to be fair." Chloe pointed out and Lance shook his head.

"No, you asked your dad to DVR it for us forgetting that his DVR hasn't worked in years and didn't bother to check until we got back from the tournament." Lance corrected his girlfriend and before long, they had finished their appetizers. "Do I even need to ask what you're having for dessert?"

"That's assuming that I still have room for dessert after the Main Course." Chloe pointed out with a sheepish grin. "But yeah, if I have room for it, I'm definitely ordering Tiramisu."

"What you see in that dessert, I'll never know." Lance commented as he shook his head earning a mock glare from Chloe. "Seriously, how can something that acidic be considered a dessert?"

"You liked those coffee and chocolate cupcakes I made for your birthday last year." Chloe pointed out and Lance shook his head.

"Because the sweetness from the chocolate offset the strong coffee favor, the one time you made Tiramisu for me you overdid it with the coffee." Lance responded and Chloe shook her head. "Where are you getting those cooking lessons, anyway?"

"Night classes at a local college in Domino City, the instructor actually said that I'm so good that I should consider going to culinary school because of how far ahead of the rest of the students I am." Chloe admitted as she brushed some hair over her shoulder. "I have considered it but first I'd need the money and hope that my dueling career doesn't interrupt my classes."

"It wouldn't be the first time a duelist went to university after graduating from Duel Academy." Lance pointed out and Chloe nodded. "Look at Chelsea, she went back to school so that she could be a high school graduate and then went to university to get a degree in IT."

"Yeah but didn't she say that she did it on Chris's suggestion? Something about setting a good example for Jasmine?" Chloe asked and Lance nodded. "Don't get me wrong, I'm happy that she was able to graduate from a regular school after graduating Duel Academy, but my situation isn't really the same as hers, for one thing, I don't have any convictions to my name, let alone a juvenile conviction." Chloe added before sighing. "And we both know whose to blame for that."

"Yeah, her last boyfriend." Lance grumbled as he remembered the horror stories from Chelsea about Dan's verbal abuse. "I'm still surprised her brothers didn't kill him once the truth came out, especially since Danny played American Football, just speaking from my perspective but I know that if that was Sophie he was abusing, they'd never find the body, she does have a boyfriend in Duel Academy and I am pleased to announce that he seems like a decent kid."

"All I'm saying to that is if he did turn out abusive, I don't think I'd want to stop you, you know my history with abuse." Chloe responded before the waiter came to take their orders, Lance ordered a Rib-Eye Steak Medium Rare whilst Chloe ordered a Chicken Roulade. "How about we change the subject before I enter the next session in a bad mood?"

"Agreed." Lance nodded in agreement before they chatted away.

*in Sophia's office*

Even after Sophia had poured herself a fresh cup of coffee, the I2 CEO still had a lot on her mind as she went through the e-mail that Jade had sent her.

"_So, Claudio did visit Athens, Greece twenty years ago." _Sophia thought as she looked at the travel logs Jade had sent her. _"Still not conclusive, that visit couldn't been for anything from opening a branch of his company in the city too wanting to visit a high end restaurant because he's rich enough to visit one in another country." _Sophia thought before sending a reply to Jade that was two words long, "keep digging". _"Jade has undoubtedly gone to get something to eat by now, maybe I should join her…." _Sophia's train of thought was interrupted by a knock at the door. "I thought I said that I didn't want to be interrupted?"

"Apologies Ms. Pegasus, but he insisted." The guard responded and Sophia frowned before taking a sip from her coffee. "It's your father." The guard added and Sophia nearly spat out her drink.

"Send him in." Sophia responded once she had regained her composure before closing the Google Chrome tab that she had been using to view the travel logs, seconds later the door opened, and her step-father walked into the room. "I take it you've heard of my troubles with hosting this tournament father?"

"I may not be directly involved Sophia-girl, but this is still my castle." Pegasus responded before he sat down, his platinum blonde hair had greyed a bit in his old age, and he had a few wrinkles on his face but there was no mistaking the creator of duel monsters. "And I still hear of the goings on, from you looking after a young duelist with bi-polar disorder to that nasty spirit business."

"That's one way of putting it." Sophia nodded with a sigh as she leaned forward. "So far, all the demonic possessions have been undone before the demon can cause any major damage, but the most recent incident has me worried."

"You mean the demon infiltrating the system?" Pegasus asked and Sophia nodded after double checking that the guard had closed the door behind him. "And you used the old "technical difficulties" excuse, classic!" Pegasus chuckled and Sophia shook her head.

"Laugh all you want father, but I've invested too much time, money and effort into this tournament for it to be brought down by one demon." Sophia asserted as she leaned forward. "And I was hoping you'd have some insights, after all, you hosted the original tournament and, regrettably, your actions have not been shed in a positive light in the years since."

"That is unfortunately true." Pegasus nodded with a sigh before shifting his weight. "As for this demon, I have several theories of my own, but I was under the impression that you had convinced yourself that it was the spirit of Yami Marik?"

"Raven and Jade certainly thought so, there was enough similarities between the demon's voice and Yami Marik's voice for a seventy percent voice match." Sophia nodded before shaking her head. "At the time, Jade's theory was that the difference was because the spirit initially possessed a duelist from England rather than his original Egyptian host, but since then the spirit has possessed an American women of Greek and Iranian descent and me, someone who is originally from Southern California."

"And there was no differences in the voice, correct?" Pegasus asked and Sophia nodded. "So, are you ready to listen to your old man for once?"

"So long as it has nothing to do with how I'm running the company or how the game has changed since the original Duelist Kingdom Tournament, I'm all ears." Sophia nodded as she stood up. "But bear in mind that the next session is starting in an hour and a half and if you intend to take me outside of the castle, I'll need to be back well before then."

"We won't be going that far outside the castle, and don't worry, we'll be back in time for your glorified Dungeons and Dragons campaign." Pegasus nodded before he stood up. "Meet me at the castle steps in ten minutes, I'll explain the rest then and there." Pegasus added before leaving the room.

"_He couldn't have just told me here in my office?" _Sophia thought as she watched her step-father leave. _"No matter, the sooner I have answers the sooner I can deal with this demon."_

*back in the dining hall*

By now dinner was well underway with most duelists either eating their dinners or waiting for their deserts whilst catching up with friends, or in Chelsea's case, her ex.

"So, you still don't know which group your current boyfriend is in?" Chelsea asked and Kylie nodded as the two women finished their mains, Sea Bass for Chelsea and a rib-eye steak for Kylie and set their plates to the side. "Is he one of the duelists still waiting for a group?"

"He didn't say, but it would be super awkward if he ended up in our group." Kylie responded with a shrug as the waiters came to take their plates away. "You plan on having deserts?"

"Between the early finish and the next session, I don't know how much time we have left." Chelsea responded as she shook her head. "And health and safety still dictates that we can't enter the virtual pod on a full stomach for some reason."

"There wouldn't a health and safety rule without a reason." Kylie pointed out and Chelsea grinned. "Besides, since when did you become such a stickler for the rules Ms. "have sex with another woman even though I'm dating a man? Sure, why not?" Cunningham?"

"Don't get me started on that, we both know how that relationship ended." Chelsea responded as she messaged her forehead in annoyance. "Almost as badly as my membership in the Christian religion."

"Really?" Kylie asked as she raised an eyebrow. "I remember you being worried about how your parents would react to you coming out as gay because of how staunchly religious they are, how did that come about?"

"If you have to know." Chelsea responded before taking a deep breath. "After I graduated from Duel Academy, I attempted to go back to life as normal back home in Chicago, didn't help that I had a niece on the way, things were fine at first until Beth moved to Chicago to be with me, we attended exactly one church service together and that was it."

"Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like where this is going?" Kylie asked and Chelsea took a deep breath.

"The preacher was going on about hellfire and brimstone, you know, the usual bullshit, we just brushed it off at first but then he singled me and Beth out." Chelsea explained and Kylie's jaw dropped. "His exact words were "these sinners are going to hell for the sin of homosexuality", it should come as no surprise that I called him out on it right there, in the middle of the sermon, he tried to ignore me but I wasn't about to let him get away with that."

"Yikes." Kylie winced as she grit her teeth. "What happened after that?"

"My family got banned for life from the church, well, they said afterwards that they would've stopped going to that church anyway, but my little outburst more or less made it official." Chelsea added as she ran a hand through her hair. "The rest of my family found another church easily enough, they still live in Chicago aside from Jamie who still works in LA, but I couldn't go to another church after that incident, I threw out my copy of the bible and stopped following the Christian religion a couple of days after that."

"Don't blame you, what that asshole did was bullshit." Kylie nodded sympathetically as she shifted her weight. "Did the rest of your family try to woo you back?"

"They did at first, saying that the preacher at their new church had done gay weddings before, but even with that in mind I couldn't go back." Chelsea said as she shifted her weight. "That wasn't long after my twenty first birthday and they stopped trying to woo me back after I turned twenty two, even though they still wonder why I grew disillusioned with religion in general." Chelsea added before a waitress asked if they wanted a dessert menu and she shook her head as did Kylie. "I still plan on getting married to Beth someday, but it won't be at a church."

"To be fair, it's not like churches have a monopoly on marriages, hell my parents got married on a cruise ship." Kylie responded and Chelsea grinned. "Though you have to invite me to your wedding for the rare site of you in a dress."

"You say that, but I might be tempted to ask if I can get married whilst decked out in one of my metal outfits." Chelsea responded with a grin getting a laugh out of Kylie. "Whether or not my parents go for it is another question, they've been open minded about my love for metal music, horror movies and other women but not wearing a dress to my wedding day might be where they draw the line."

"Just let me know when you try to argue for that choice, so I can watch with a bag of popcorn in hand." Kylie responded with a grin as she took a sip from her drink. "Enough about the past, let's talk about the present, namely, that Illinois Regional Championship you've been holding for the past three years."

"I was wondering when you were going to bring that up." Chelsea commented with a grin before flipping some hair over her shoulder. "Even all these years later, I still can't believe I won it on my first go! I was expecting to make the Semi-Finals at most but turns out, no one on the Illinois Regional Scene was expecting a Watt Deck, though I have to say in recent years, my challengers keep trying to find ways to counter it."

"Obviously it hasn't worked." Kylie responded with a grin and Chelsea nodded. "Even so, you'll have to lose the title and move on to the National Scene, eventually right? You can't stay on the Regional Scene forever."

"That's the plan, to be honest, the sooner I get off the regionals the better." Chelsea grumbled as she leaned forward. "My current PR Company gave me the "Shock Rock Chick" nickname without asking me first."

"I thought that sounded too corny to be one of your ideas." Kylie responded with a laugh and Chelsea nodded with a frown on her face. "Then again, I'm talking to the same woman who named her deck "Wattitude" unironically."

"And I still haven't changed it." Chelsea sighed as she glanced at the clock. "Mostly because I can't think of anything better, that's why I plan on dumping the PR Company as soon as I hit the nationals, and maybe my agent if he somehow finds a worse PR Company."

"Could be worse." Kylie shrugged her shoulders in response and Chelsea raised an eyebrow as she took a sip from her drink. "My first PR Company thought "The Myspace Queen" would be a good nickname for me after taking one look at me, I'd never even heard of Myspace until they brought it up." Kylie added causing Chelsea to nearly spit out her drink. "I basically gave them an ultimatum, find something better or I'm finding a new PR Company."

"Why do I get the feeling that was exactly the reason why my PR Company didn't even ask me first?" Chelsea wondered once she regained her composure. "Anyway, is there a reason why your bringing up my success?"

"Well, you put out a press release saying that you'd be putting your title on the line unofficially, right?" Kylie asked and Chelsea nodded. "Basically, whoever eliminates you is free to come to Illinois and challenge you for the title? Well, I might just have to take you up on that offer." Kylie added as she looked at her fingernails playfully.

"You realize that offers only good as long as you eliminate me, right?" Chelsea asked with a raised eyebrow and Kylie nodded. "Because I aint going down without a fight!"

"Funny, you were all to eager to go down for me when we were dating." Kylie joked and Chelsea mouthed "ha, ha, ha" sarcastically. "Hey, you made that joke about my cage dancing days, it's only fair that I return the favor!"

"Point." Chelsea admitted before glancing up at the wall clock. "Seriously, how long is it going to take for them to fix that technical issue?" Chelsea wondered prompting Kylie to glance up at the wall clock. "Yes, I know I'm a computer nerd and yes, I went to Chicago State University to study IT, yes, I did get a Masters Degree in IT and yes, I do understand that anything and can go wrong with computers when they aren't working properly but this seems like way to long for it to be a simple technical glitch."

"If was it just a glitch, why did Sophia end the session early?" Kylie pointed out and Chelsea paused. "You'd think the technicians at I2 would be able to fix any glitch whilst the session is still running."

"You say that but even with all my technical knowledge, I still don't understand why computers still need to restart to install any new updates." Chelsea responded with a grin and Kylie nodded in agreement. "Hopefully they'll have it fixed soon."

*meanwhile in the pod room*

"Rachel., any updates?" Robert's voice rang out from the laptop that she was skyping him on as the two technicians were working together to figure out the problem. "If we don't find out how that dark card got onto the system…."

"Sophia and Kaiba will have our heads, believe me, I know." Rachel responded as she typed away furiously at the keyboard. "But I don't understand it!"

"Didn't you graduate from MIT?" Robert asked and Rachel nodded.

"Yeah, top of my class, but nothing at MIT prepared me for this." Rachel responded as she glanced at the different monitors. "On the surface, the computers are working fine, and the pods are fully operational, the only possible thing I can think off is if someone was already possessed when they entered the pod, and I don't think that would've been easy to miss!"

"Again, I must stress, if we can't figure this out then we had better start working on our CVs." Robert responded before he spotted something in one of the pods. "Rachel, check pod number nine."

"Nine?" Rachel asked before she glanced at the virtual pod, the two technicians had somehow missed it at first but now they saw that there was a dark mist emerging from the pod even though it was apparently empty. "Rachel McKenzie reporting in." Rachel said into her earpiece as she glanced at the pod. "Requesting Sophia's presence immediately."

"Sorry Rachel but Sophia's out of the castle." The guard responded as the mist started to take shape. "She left the building with her father."

"She picked an odd time to go catch up with her step-father!" Rachel responded as she ran a hand down her face before checking who the pod belonged to. "Send the duelist known as Raven, there's a fault with her pod."

"Right away." The guard responded before the mist finished taking form and emerged as a tall male figure seemingly made out of shadows.

*a few minutes later*

As soon as Raven was alerted to the problem the Polish woman marched straight from her table to the virtual pod room, as she entered the room her body language stiffened as she glared at the misty figure standing before an unconscious Rachel.

"I thought I was done with you." Raven sneered as she removed her hood revealing an angry expression on her face. "And yet, here you are."

"Is that no way to greet an old friend." The misty figure responded before his arm took the form of a scythe and he lowered it towards Rachel's head. "One step closer Nadia and her head comes clean off her shoulders."

"No one calls me by that name!" Raven responded as her eyes narrowed. "Not anymore! And one way or another, I will send you back to where you came from." Raven added as she activated her duel disk. "Now let Rachel go, she has nothing to do with this."

"As you wish, I will deal with you both after I win." The misty figure responded as his scythe turned into a duel disk which he activated. "Then I can start my search for a new body for my master."

"_Just as I expected." _Raven thought as the misty figure activated his duel disk. "Tell me, how long were you hiding on Duelist Kingdom Island? And how did no one notice you."

"No one thought to search the catacombs that the Paradox Brothers once called home." The misty figure responded as a deck appeared in the duel disk slot and five Duel Monster cards appeared in his hand. "As for how long, longer than Pegasus has been alive."

"Which one? The creator of Duel Monsters or his step-daughter?" Raven asked as her eyes narrowed.

"Yes." The figure responded simply and Raven growled.

"What's going on in here?" Chloe's voice rang out and Raven looked up seeing Chloe, Chelsea, Jade, Andreas, Brandon and Theresa standing nearby. "On second thought, do we even want to know?"

"The short answer is you don't." Raven responded as she turned to the other duelists. "The long answer? This is my battle and I don't need your help to fight it."

"You said on the boat that we weren't ordinary duelists." Theresa chimed in and Raven grit her teeth. "So please, let us help you."

"Pierdoleni idioci." Raven grumbled under her breath in her native language. "You want to help? Get Rachel out of herm's way, if you want to watch, that's your funeral." Raven added and Chloe and Chelsea got Rachel out of harm's way. "And Andreas? Don't bother translating for your friends."

"I wasn't going to." Andreas responded as he folded his arms. _"Though I am curious as to why she just called us fucking idiots for trying to help her."_

*meanwhile, outside the castle*

The castle grounds that once played host to the Duelist Kingdom tournament hadn't seen much activity as of late despite the island's important place in Duel Monster history, despite this Sophia followed her father down the steps and further into the island.

"_I could probably turn this into a tourist destination once father passes away." _Sophia thought as she glanced around the forested area where she was following her father. _"Little plaques on the floor to point out where famous duels take place? Could be a good source of revenue." _Sophia thought before sighing. _"Or it could be a massive money sink since not many people know where this island is, the most they do know is about the island's location are the duelists I've brought here and Duel Monsters historians."_

"That was a heavy sigh Sophia-girl." Pegasus broke his step-daughter's train of thought as he turned to her. "Something on your mind?"

"Easier to list what isn't on my mind." Sophia scoffed before flipping some hair over her shoulder. "Do I even need to say why?"

"Quite." Pegasus nodded before he resumed walking and his step-daughter followed him, it took the pair around twenty minutes before they reached a cave entrance which Sophia quickly recognized. "I must thank your men for moving the boulder left here by Bandit Keith and his men."

"That's one way of putting it." Sophia responded as she walked up to the cave. "That said, I have to ask, not one but two duel arenas in the cave and catacombs? How was any duelist supposed to find them?!"

"Provides an element of surprise, does it not?" Pegasus chuckled and Sophia shook her head as he entered the cave. "Come now, the answers you seek are within." Pegasus added but before she could take another step towards the cave Sophia felt her phone ringing and picked it up.

The caller ID raised enough red flags to cover the island five times over, without hesitation she answered the call and put it on speaker phone. "Sophia-girl, where are you?" Pegasus's real voice rang out from the phone and the imposter froze. "There is a situation back at the castle that requires your urgent attention."

"I'll be back at the castle momentarily." Sophia responded as her eyes narrowed before gritting her teeth. "Father."

"So, my ruse has been sprung." The imposter said in his real voice, which sounded like it came from a mid-western American state though Sophia couldn't put her finger on where exactly it came from, as he turned around. "But you've been suspicious ever since we left the castle."

"Even before he adopted me, I've known my father for years." Sophia responded as she glared at the imposter. "Your first mistake was leading me out of the castle, ever since he retired from running I2, father has never left the castle, he didn't even leave it during the first Duelist Kingdom tournament." Sophia explained as she folded her arms. "So why don't you stop wasting my time and tell me who you really are before I return to the castle?"

"That would be telling." The imposter responded before removing his wig and mask revealing him to be a man who was around Sophia's age with neck length black hair and brown eyes. "But I think you know anyway." The man added and Sophia's eyes narrowed once it clicked in her mind.

"Max Stevens, the man Chelsea dethroned to win the Illinois Regional Championship." Sophia realized before her frown deepened. "You disappeared off the face of the earth after Chelsea defeated you in one of the first turbo duels in a mainstream tournament, and yet here you are, impersonating my father on his island home."

"How astute of you." Max responded before he grit his teeth. "I was growing bored off the pro-leagues before that dyke came along and took my title anyway! And before you ask how long I've been on the island, well, I've been hear since the tournament was announced."

"_I need to have a thorough word with the island security over this." _Sophia thought before morticing the shadows forming around her. "A shadow duel. How quaint." Sophia commented as the shadows surrounded them. "You realize my father practically wrote the book on these things, right?"

"Perhaps, but the old man couldn't keep up with me even if he had that Millennium Eye!" Max responded with a scoff as the shadows surrounded them. "And I wouldn't be so casual about dueling with your soul on the line."

"Wouldn't be the first time." Sophia responded as they drew their cards. _"Max wasn't on the roster because he had disappeared after losing the title to Chelsea, hell I'm probably the only person who's seen him since Chelsea won the title." _Sophia thought as she went over her hand. _"I had better hope that they can contain the situation back at the castle."_

*back at the castle*

"For the last time Lance, we are not calling him MistyMcMistFace." Raven commented as she a ran a hand down her face whilst Lance, who had joined the group of supporters to see what the fuss was about, rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Can you just tell them your name before they make more inane suggestions?"

"No, I will not." The figure responded and Raven's eyes narrowed. "Once I am free from this room, my name won't matter."

"What exactly are you anyway?" Chloe wondered as she looked at the misty figure. "If you ask me, you'd look like a stupid idea for a comic-book villain if it weren't for the Duel Disk!"

"You do not want to know." The figure responded before turning to Raven. "For now, we will duel!" The figure added and both duelists activated their duel disks and Raven drew her opening hand. "Ladies first."

"How generous! I start my turn by activating Black Whirlwind!" Raven announced as she played the card causing the Continuous Spell Card to appear on the field. "More on that later, I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode to end my turn."

"Playing defensively Nadia? How unlike you." The misty figure responded before drawing his card and looking over his hand. "I start by activating Shard of Greed, during my following standby phases it'll gain a greed counter and once it has two, I can sacrifice it to draw two cards." The figure explained he played the card and as the Spell Card appeared on the field the other duelists not named Raven were thoroughly confused. "I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode, your move Nadia."

"Who plays Shard of Greed nowadays?" Chelsea wondered as Raven drew her card. "That card is as slow as my grand mom whose she's nearly ninety and gets around with a walking stick!"

"I think we're missing the bigger picture here." Chloe responded before turning to Raven. "Do you prefer Nadia or Raven?"

"Nadia is my real name, but I haven't gone by it in years." Raven responded as she turned to Chloe. "That was a lifetime ago, and if you wish to stay on my good side, you won't repeat my real name to anyone else in the castle."

"Not even Sophia?" Brandon asked and Raven shook her head before he realized something. "Wait, where is Sophia anyway? You'd think a situation like this would have her undivided attention."

"I was called to the pod room because Sophia was taken outside the castle by her step-father." Raven explained as she glanced over at Brandon. "And given how big and forested the island is, it could be hours before she returns to the castle."

"So, I see my associate has done his job." The misty figure responded, and Raven froze before slowly turning to him. "Sophia didn't leave with her father, she left with an imposter who, provided he's doing his job correctly, is defeating her in a Shadow Game as we speak."

"Divide and Conquer, I would say that's a wise strategy if you hadn't blabbed about it in front of Sophia's men." Raven responded as she motioned to Sophia's men. "Go find Sophia immediately, time is of the essence." Raven commanded the guards who nodded before running off.

"You can do that?" Lance asked Raven and the Polish woman nodded.

"As far as Sophia's men are concerned, me and Jade are her second and third in command respectively." Raven explained as she turned to Lance. "Sophia signs their paychecks true, but in cases of emergency like the one we're in now, we have command over the guards until the situation is resolved."

"Are you familiar with Roman history?" Jade chimed in and the other duelists nodded. "Back in Ancient Rome, the office of Dictator was one used in emergencies and those who had that position had emergency powers granted to them by the Senate, the most famous example would be Julius Caesar but it dates back to the wars against Carthage and even further than that, I'm a sense, our powers over the guards are a lot like that."

"Just don't try to name yourself "Commander of the Guards for life"." Chloe chimed in and Jade raised an eyebrow. "I already knew what you were talking about when you mentioned dictator, me and Lance watched a Rome documentary before we left home for the tournament."

"Well, she watched, I fell asleep halfway through." Lance corrected her and Chloe gave her boyfriend an annoyed look. "What? I was tired from working the shop."

"Back to business." Raven commented before going over her hand. "First, I flip summon my facedown monster, Blackwing – Shura the Blue Flame!" Raven announced as the humanoid crow with the blue head appeared on the field (4/1800/1200). "Next, as I control a Blackwing monster, I can Special Summon Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind from my hand!" Raven announced as she played the card and the smaller Blackwing monster appeared on the field (3/1300/400). "For my normal summon, I will bring out Blackwing – Harmattan the Dusk!"

"Back to your old tricks, Nadia?" The figure asked as a much smaller crow with rose petals around its neck appeared on the field (2/800/800). "This was the same combo you used on that fateful day, I suppose you are going to explain how this triggers the effects of Black Whirlwind and Harmattan the Dusk?"

"As I have normal summoned a Blackwing Monster, Black Whirlwind will allow me to search my deck for another Blackwing monster." Raven ignored him before she started imputing commands into her duel disk. "Now onto Harmattan the Dusk's effect, when he is Normal or Special Summoned, I can target one other Blackwing monster I control and increase that monster's level by Harmattan's level, I chose Gale the Whirlwind!" Raven explained once she had added the monster to her hand and her deck had auto-shuffled and indeed, Gale the Whirlwind's level had increased to five. "We have no time to lose, Shura the Blue Flame, attack his defense monster!" Raven commanded and the humanoid crow took flight.

"_Perfect!" _The misty figure thought as his facedown monster flipped up shocking each duelist present as it was an infamous golden arm with a chain around it (1/200/300) which was quickly destroyed. "Such a pity that I lose the Right Arm of the Forbidden One."

"Well, I guess him using Shard of Greed makes sense now." Chelsea commented as she scratched her head. "But why throw away an Exodia piece like that?"

"He could be using Exodia Necross like the proctor Lance faced when he enrolled in Duel Academy did." Chloe offered with a shrug before frowning. "But why? Exodia Necross isn't that good."

"_That's what I want to know as well, but I can't let this go on for much longer." _Raven thought before she started inputting commands into her duel disk. "When Sirocco the Dawn destroys a monster his effect activates, allowing me to Special Summon another Blackwing monster from my deck, I chose Pinaki, the Waxing Moon!" Raven announced as another small crow appeared on the field though this one had a turban on its head and a bow in its hands (3/1200/1200). "Now the stage is set, I have two Tuner Monsters on the field and the means to do a Synchro Summon right now!"

"Then what are you waiting for?" The figure asked and Raven's eyes narrowed.

"Nothing! I activate my facedown cards, Urgent Tuning!" Raven announced as both copies of the trap card flipped up. "I use my first Urgent Tuning to tune Gale the Whirlwind with Harmattan the Dawn!" Raven announced as the two monsters took flight for the Synchro Summon. "I Synchro Summon Blackwing – Obsidian Hawk Joe!" Raven announced as she played the card and once the blight flash faded a man with the wings of a crow in gold and silver armor with long red hair appeared on the field ready for battle (7/2600/2000).

"Impressive." The misty figure responded with a scoff. "What about your other monsters?"

"I was getting to then, now for my other monsters! I tune Pinaki the Waxing Moon with Shura the Blue Flame!" Raven announced as the two monsters took flight. "This time I Synchro Summon Blackwing Armor Master!" Raven announced as she played the card and once the bright flash faded the second time around the armored Blackwing monster appeared on the field ready for battle (7/2500/2100). "I have a combined attack power of 5100 on my second turn and you have nothing to defend yourself with, most of my opponents throw in the towel by now."

"I am not that cowardly." The misty figure responded, and Raven's eyes narrowed.

"Your funeral! Obsidian Hawk Joe, Armor Master, attack his life-points directly!" Raven commanded and the two Blackwing monsters flew towards the misty figure…

"I activate my facedown card Shield of the Forbidden One!" The misty figure announced as his trap card flipped up depicting Exodia, the Forbidden One blocking attacks with a massive shield. "As I have one of the Exodia pieces in my graveyard, this trap card ends the battle phase immediately and allows me to draw a card." The misty figure explained as the attacks were stopped and he drew a card. "How anticlimactic."

"If your plan is to draw all five pieces of Exodia then I will stop you long before you get to that point!" Raven responded before she retrieved Pinaki the Waxing Moon from her graveyard. "I move to my end phase and this triggers Panicki's effect, as he was sent to the graveyard this turn, I can add another Blackwing Monster to my hand." Raven added as she started searching through her deck. "Once I'm done, you will be free to take your turn Emil."

"Emil?" Chloe asked and Raven paused before glancing at the younger woman.

"I'll explain after I win." Raven responded as she inputted commands into her duel disk. _"Sooner we can get this resolved, the better, and the same goes for the guards searching for Sophia!"_

*back at the cave*

"Before we get started, just answer me this." Sophia stated as both duelists drew their opening hands. "Before Chelsea came along, you were one of the best Regional Champions in the country, why the disappearing act?"

"Didn't I explain that already?" Max asked impatiently as he went over his hand. "I had gotten bored of the pro-scene by the time she entered the tournament and after Chelsea defeated me, I used the opportunity to find my true purpose in life." Max added and Sophia raised an eyebrow. "Even if that dyke hadn't dethroned me, I would've vacated the title eventually."

"I know for a fact that there's no way in hell that would've been accepted by the Tournament Committee."Sophia responded as her eyes narrowed. "Champions, regardless of what level they are at, are expected to defend their titles yearly at most, they can only vacate a title if they get injured or die and given that Duel Monsters is a non-contact sport, injuries don't really happen unless the opponent turns off the safeties in their duel disk and that is a whole different can of worms."

"Don't you think I know that?" Max asked before grinning. "I have enough money to burn to pay any opponent to do that willingly."

"And how long would it have been before said opponent spilled the beans?" Sophia asked and Max's eyes narrowed. "Any duelist caught turning off the safeties in their duel disk faces a lifetime ban from the pro-leagues at best and a conviction for assault or attempted murder at worst, I don't care how rich you are Max, there aren't many duelists who have made it to the pro-leagues who are that dumb and those who are that dumb aren't exactly the most morally sound of individuals." Sophia added before smirking. "And you know what they say, no honor among thieves."

"What about that Otto brat from the New York Battle City?" Max asked and Sophia frowned. "He turned off the safeties in his duel disk and made it all the way to the top four."

"Because he had been outed as an Orichalcos Duelist by that point." Sophia pointed out as her frown deepened. "He already had no future as a duelist by that point, turning off the safeties was just the icing on the cake, now are we going to duel or are we going to stand here and talk all day?"

"Fine, and I'll go first." Max responded before going over his hand. "I set two cards facedown and I activate Toon World."

"_You have got to be kidding me." _Sophia thought as the book containing the cartoon kingdom appeared on the field and Max's life-points dropped to seven thousand. "It wasn't enough for you to impersonate my step-father, you had to go and steal his deck as well?"

"Don't insult me." Max responded with a grin. "You know as well as I do that your father's Toon cards are hilariously outdated, this is a new and improved version!"

"If your using the new Toon Cards I released five years ago, guess what? I'm still not impressed." Sophia responded as she shook her head. "There are still cards for that archetype that are yet to be released."

"Who said I'm using those either? I set a monster in defense mode and end my turn." Max announced and Sophia drew her card.

"_Max was using an Archfiend deck when he was still the Illinois Regional Champion, if he is working for that demon then I wouldn't be surprised." _Sophia thought as she went over her hand. _"But why play Toon World? As outdated as the Toon Cards are, Toon Kingdom is a much better card and doesn't require a life-point payment." _Sophia thought before playing a card. "I activate Spellbook inside the Pot, now we both draw three cards."

"Thanks." Max responded with a grin as they drew their cards. "I look forward to you repaying the favor when I make you my sex slave after I win this duel."

"I wouldn't count on that! I set two cards facedown and I summon Berserk Gorilla!" Sophia announced as she set the cards and the enraged gorilla appeared on the field (4/2000/1000). "Berserk Gorilla, attack his defense monster!" Sophia announced and the gorilla charged into battle against the monster, revealed to be a cartoonish court jester whose eyes widened when he saw the gorilla (1/0/0) which was quickly destroyed. "Sending a jester against someone who may as well be the queen of that castle? Didn't know you had a sense of humor."

"Joke all you want but when Toon Jester is destroyed as a result of battle and I have Toon World active, I can search my deck for another Toon Monster and add it to my hand." Max responded before he started searching through his deck. "And as soon as I summon this guy, your gorilla's going on the endangered list!"

"Just try it! It'll be your turn once your done searching." Sophia responded and Max nodded before drawing his card once his deck had auto-shuffled. _"If he thinks he can intimidate me with a toon deck, then I'll be happy to give him a reality check!"_

"_Perfect!" _Max thought before playing a card. "As I control no monsters and Toon World, I can Special Summon Toon Knight without tribute." Max announced as he played the card and from the book emerged a tall cartoonish knight wielding a comically oversized lance (6/2400/1200). "Attack Berserk Gorilla!" Max commanded and the knight charged towards Berserk Gorilla…

"I activate Beast Soul Swap! Berserk Gorilla returns to my hand and I can Special Summon another Beast Type Monster of the same level in his place!" Sophia announced as her facedown card flipped up and Berserk Gorilla disappeared from the field before Toon Knight's attack could hit. "I Special Summon Protect Wolf in defense mode!" Sophia announced as she played the card and a large wolf appeared on the field growling at Max (4/1000/1500) before crouching down. "Don't bother with the replay, Protect Wolf can survive attacks from monsters with two thousand or more attack points as long as he is in defense mode."

"That won't save you for long! I set a card facedown and end my turn." Max announced and Sophia frowned before drawing her card.

"_He's got a point, at least I have Berserk Gorilla back in my hand as a back-up." _Sophia thought before glancing over in the direction of her father's castle. "_I know I planned to delay the next session by an hour because I ended the previous session early but if I don't finish this duel soon then I might be forced to delay it until tomorrow morning, let's hope the duelists in the castle can go on without me!"_

*back at the castle*

What Sophia didn't realize was that there was another duel happening at the exact same time, albeit one that was going quite differently.

"As a turn has passed since I activated Shard of Greed, it gains its first Greed Counter." Emil announced as the shattered pot started to take form. "Now I activate Spellbook of the Forbidden One! As I have at least one Exodia piece in my graveyard I can shuffle it back into my deck and draw two cars." Emil announced as the Spell Card, which depicted Exodia reading from a book that heavily resembled the Necronomicon, appeared on the field and he shuffled the card back into his deck and drew his cards. "I set one monster in defense mode and a card facedown to end my turn."

"I hope you realize that your moves are making no sense." Raven commented as she drew her card. "You sent that Exodia piece to the graveyard so you could protect your life-points with Shield of the Forbidden One only now you've shuffled it back into your deck so that you could get more draws, honestly you would've been better off using Pot of Duality or a similar card."

"Do you always give your opponents advice?" Emil mocked Raven and her eyes narrowed.

"No, I just like to point out obvious holes in their strategies! Obsidian Hawk Joe, attack his defense monster!" Raven commanded and her monster took flight before diving towards the monster, revealed to be Mystic Tomato (4/1400/1100) which was quickly destroyed. "Don't bother explaining Mystic Tomatoes effect to me Emil, I know what it does."

"Then I won't keep you in suspense." Emil responded as he played another card from his deck causing another Mystic Tomato to appear on the field. "You still have a monster capable off attacking."

"Are you that eager to take first blood?" Raven asked with a raised eyebrow and Emil remained motionless. "Suit yourself, Armor Master, attack his second Mystic Tomato!" Raven commanded and her monster divebombed towards the tomato destroying it and bringing Emil's life-points down to 6700. "Don't tell me, a third Mystic Tomato?"

"If I had any need for it yes, but you didn't summon another monster." Emil responded as he searched through his deck before playing the card revealing it to be Exodia, the Forbidden One (4/1000/1000). "Intimidated yet?"

"Why would I be? Exodia and it's individual pieces are only useful in your hand, yet you've done everything but keep them in your hand." Raven pointed out with a frown on her face before looking at the cards in her hand. "I end my turn."

"Suit yourself." Emil responded before drawing his card. "Shard of Greed gains its second counter." Emil announced as the pot completely reassembled and bore the likeness of the infamous Spell Card. "Now I send it to the graveyard and draw two cards." Emil announced as the pot vanished and he drew two cards. "I activate Magical Dimension, I send Exodia, the Forbidden One to the graveyard to Special Summon another Spellcaster and then destroy one card you control." Emil announced as the monster disappeared from the field and a tall robed man wearing an Exodia mask appeared on the field (4/2000/1000). "Priest of the Forbidden One, destroy Armor Master!"

"Did you really think I'd let you destroy one of my monsters that easily? Think again! I activate my Trap Card Black Feather Shield!" Raven announced as her facedown card flipped up and a shield seemingly completely made of black feathers appeared on the shielding Armor Master from the blast. "As a Blackwing Monster I control was about to be destroyed by a card effect, this trap card protects all my Blackwing monsters from being destroyed as long as I discard one monster from my hand for each monster on my side of the field."

"Discarding two monsters from your hand to protect those on the field." Emil scoffed as the blast was deflected off the shield. "Then again, you've always been quick to discard those you no longer need, how long until you discard your employer?"

"I'm not going to answer that." Raven responded as her eyes narrowed. "Now finish your turn."

"Fine, I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Emil announced and Raven drew her card. "Do you really think Sophia's men can find her in time?"

"Sophia uses one of the best security firms in the world for her security staff, I have every confidence that they will find her." Raven responded as she went over her hand. _"Whether or not she'll be alive when they find her is a different matter entirely."_

*back at the cave*

"_Okay, now I can do something!" _Sophia thought as she looked at her drawn card before activating her remaining facedown card. "I activate Dimension Switch! This trap card removes Protect Wolf from play for the time being!" Sophia announced as the trap card flipped up and Protect Wolf vanished from the field. "Why would I do that? I'll let this Spell Card answer that for me, I activate Obedience Schooled! As I control no monsters, this Spell Card allows me to special summon three level two or lower Beast Type Monsters from my deck."

"And they'll come with their effects negated and they'll be destroyed during the end phase." Max interrupted Sophia and the I2 CEO frowned. "Did you forget that I'm the former Illinois Regional Champion?"

"No, but I was under the impression that explaining card effects was common courtesy! In any case, I special summon the Tuner Monster Elephun alongside Unifora, Mystical Beast of the Forrest and Key Mouse!" Sophia announced as she played the cards and the three weak monsters appeared on the field (2/500/300) (1/700/300) and (1/100/100) however Max remained unimpressed as the three monsters crouched down.

"You realize that you just summoned two tuner monsters, right?" Max asked with a scoff as Sophia picked up two cards. "What good will that do you?"

"If you'll give me a moment, I'll show you." Sophia responded before pocketing a card. "I banish a Spell Card from my hand to Special Summon Monoceros!" Sophia announced as she played the card and the large, single horned beast appeared on the field (3/1000/1000). "Now I activate the second effect of Dimension Switch, I send that trap card to the graveyard to return Protect Wolf to the field!" Sophia announced as she played the card and the wolf returned to the field. "In case you haven't figured it out yet, I'll spell it out for you, I'm about to Synchro Summon two monsters! And I start by tuning Protect Wolf with Key Mouse!"

"And I think I know exactly what your about to summon!" Max responded as he grit his teeth whilst the two monsters leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon, once the bright flash faded the familiar unicorn appeared on the field. "Just as I thought, Thunder Unicorn!" Max said through gritted teeth (5/2200/1800).

"Why go against what works? Now I activate Thunder Unicorn's effect! I have four monsters on the field counting Thunder Unicorn himself, that means your knight is about to lose two thousand attack points." Sophia added as lightning shot out from Thunder Unicorn's horn bringing Toon Knight's attack points down to 400. "He's the only one who can attack if I use that effect but that's not a concern right now, next I tune Elephun, Unifora and Monoceros together!" Sophia announced as the three monsters leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon.

"Synchro Summon what? There aren't that many level six Beast Type Synchros!" Max demanded but quickly got his answer once the bright flash faded. "But off course the I2 CEO has a copy of it!"

"Tell me, where you this impatient when you were champion?" Sophia asked but Max remained silent as she played the card. "Suit yourself! I Synchro Summon Lion Warrior Mufasa in attack mode!" Sophia announced as she played the card and a tall humanoid lion in green armor appeared on the field ready for battle (6/2300/2100). "Before you cry fowl and point out that Obedience Schooled restricts me to summoning Beast Type Monsters after activating it, don't, despite looking like a Beast-Warrior, he is a beast type monster! Now before I attack Monoceros' effect activates, Special Summoning Elephun back from the graveyard!" Sophia announced as the Tuner monster returned to the field. "Thunder Unicorn, attack Toon Knight!" Sophia commanded and the unicorn charged forward.

"Such a pity that all that build up will go to waste! I activate my Trap Cards Toon Briefcase and Toon Ramparts!" Max announced as his facedown cards flipped up and Sophia frowned. "As you have targeted a Toon Monster, I control for an attack Toon Briefcase will instead turn it into a direct attack, whilst Toon Ramparts will make you take all the damage from direct attacks against me as long as Toon World is on the field!" Max added and Sophia's eyes widened as Thunder Unicorn changed course and struck her instead bringing Sophia's life-points down to 5800. "And both of my trap cards are continuous so feel free to keep trying!"

"I'd rather French kiss a cactus than defeat myself that way!" Sophia responded as her eyes narrowed. "But more to the point, Toon Ramparts isn't due for release for months, how do you have it in your deck and how is it working on your Duel Disk?"

"My master is very generous, after all, you've met him before." Max responded and it took Sophia a second to realize what he was talking about.

"You work for the demon that's been making my life hell ever since I started this tournament?" Sophia asked and Max nodded. "That explains how that dark card got in the system, would you care to divulge who else is working for the demon?"

"Wouldn't you like to know?" Max scoffed and Sophia frowned.

"I set one card facedown and end my turn." Sophia announced and once Toon Knight's attack points had returned to normal Max drew his card.

"And before you get any ideas about destroying Toon World, I activate this!" Max announced as his facedown card flipped up depicting Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon protecting several other Toon Monsters and the Toon World book. "Toon Protector protects Toon World from destruction as long as I have at least three face-up cards with the word "Toon" in it! Now Toon Knight, attack Elephun!" Max commanded and the knight charged towards the weaker beast….

"I activate my trap card Pack Instinct!" Sophia announced as her facedown card flipped up depicting several beast type monsters marching together. "I have three beast type monsters on my side of the field with different levels, since you just attacked the weakest of the three this trap card ends the battle phase immediately!"

"Nice try but not good enough, from my hand I activate Toon Effect Veiler!" Max announced as he discarded the card and a cartoonish version of the classic hand trap appeared on the field. "The original Effect Veiler can only negate the effects of monsters but with Toon World on the field, Toon Effect Veiler can negate any effect like Pack Instinct!" Max explained before Toon Effect Veiler got out an oversized mallet and smashed Pack Instinct to pieces. "And since I activated the effect of a Toon Monster, Toon Knight can inflict piercing damage!"

"_I'm going to feel this in the morning!" _Sophia thought as the knight continued its charge before piercing Elephun with his lance bringing Sophia's life-points down to 3700. "You may have widened your lead over me but you forgot one thing, I still have Thunder Unicorn and Lion Warrior on my side of the field and whilst I won't be able to damage your life-points as much as I'd like, five hundred life-points is still nothing to sneeze at!"

"I'd like to see you try! I end my turn!" Max announced and Sophia drew her card.

"First off, the effect of the Spell Card I banished last turn resolves." Sophia announced as she retrieved the card from her pocket. "Card from a Different Dimension! It returns to my hand one turn after I banished it and we both draw two cards." Sophia announced and Max nodded before they drew their cards. "So, tell me, how does your lead look now?"

"Pretty damn good, why do you ask?" Max asked as Sophia played a card which caused Max's eyes to widen. "Time Bomb Delay?!"

"This card is about as situational as it gets so bear with me." Sophia responded as she grinned broadly. "Depends on my life-points really, if I have more than five thousand life-points, it destroys all monsters on the field, less than five thousand and it destroys all Spell/Trap Cards, I can only use this once per duel so count your blessings." Sophia announced and Max's eyes widened as his Spell Card/Trap Cards were destroyed ending with Toon World. "Now let's see if my theory is correct." Sophia commented dryly before Toon Knight shattered into a million pieces. "Thought so, same weakness as the classic toon monsters, and as I just destroyed several Spell Cards/Trap Cards at once Lion Warrior gets to attack once for each card."

"Wait, what?!" Max asked as the lion let out a roar. "Can we talk about this?!"

"No, not after you impersonated my father for god knows how long." Sophia responded before pointing to Max. "Lion Warrior also shares Thunder Unicorn's weakness, if I use this effect he's the only one who can attack, but it's still more than enough to wipe out your life-points unless you happened to draw another hand trap." Sophia added but one look at the panicked look on Max's face told her everything. "Just as I thought, Lion Warrior, finish it!" Sophia commanded and the warrior charged forward before slashing Max multiple times and bringing his life-points down to zero. "I hope your in a talkative mood." Sophia said as she walked up to her defeated opponent. "Because my security staff will want a word with you."

"Get bent!" Max snapped at her as he lunged at Sophia, however she easily side-stepped his attack and he stumbled to the ground at which point Sophia restrained him with a judo hold. "What the hell?!"

"What? You thought I can't defend myself because I'm a CEO? Or a woman?" Sophia asked as she shook her head, Max struggled to get free, but Sophia's grip was too strong. "Save your energy, I take self-defense classes weekly from one of the best martial artists in the world and this isn't the first time I put down a man who is larger than me, that and you telegraphed that attack from a mile away." Sophia added and Max stopped struggling. "Don't bother trying this with Raven and Jade either, they are part of that same self-defense class."

"Ms. Pegasus!" Sophia looked up and saw several of her men running towards her. "There's a situation at the castle, we were sent by Raven to fetch you."

"I noticed." Sophia responded with a nod before releasing her hold on Max, standing up and folding her arms before motioning to Max. "This man has been impersonating my father for god knows how long, poorly I might add, take him back to the castle and see what he knows."

"Off course ma'am." The guard who had spoken up nodded before they grabbed Max and dragged him to the castle with Sophia trailing behind them.

*back at the castle*

"_I had better end this quickly! Fortunately, his priest is weaker than both of my monsters." _Raven thought as she looked over the field. "Obsidian Hawk Joe, attack Priest of the Forbidden One!" Raven commanded and the hawk flew forward before decapitating the priest and bringing Emil's life-points down to 6100. "And now for the rest of your life-points." Raven announced before noticing that Emil was chuckling. "Is there a joke I'm missing?"

"When Priest of the Forbidden One is destroyed, all monsters with the words "Forbidden One" in their name go to the top of my deck in any order." Emil explained before he rearranged the cards in his hand. "This was my plan all along! You are finished."

"Am I?" Raven asked cockily and Emil paused. "Tell me, do you have any stall cards in your hand? Or cards that will allow you to draw those cards quickly, like say, Card of Demise? Shield of the Forbidden One is only good as long as you have an Exodia Piece in the graveyard, right now you only have Mystic Tomatoes in your graveyard." Raven asked and Emil started to get nervous. "There's one big flaw in your plan, until you get all five pieces of Exodia the individual pieces are nothing but dead draws, my two monsters have a combined attack power of 5100, do you really think you'll survive long enough to say "Exodia, Obliterate!"?"

"I will not be denied!" Emil responded angrily and Raven's eyes narrowed. "Dear sister!"

"And that's enough out of you, Armor Master, attack!" Raven commanded and the armored Blackwing flew forward before slashing Emil and bringing his life-points down to 4600. "Anyone who was a decent duelist would throw in the towel now, but your overreliance on Exodia casts a lot of doubt on your abilities as a duelist."

"I will not surrender, and it's my move!" Emil responded as he drew his card. "I end my turn."

"Just as I thought." Raven nodded before drawing her card but they both knew it was a formality. "Finish him off!" Raven commanded and her two Synchro monsters flew forward before slashing Emil and bringing his life-points down to zero. "We were brother and sister once." Raven said as she walked up to the misty figure with her arms crossed. "And I'm going to say the same thing I said to you in that fateful day, stay out of my life Emil!" Raven added and without another word Emil vanished, Raven slowly turned to the others and sighed. "I'm sorry you had to see that, I'll explain later but for now, help me get Rachel to the infirmary."

"There's an infirmary?" Chelsea asked and Raven nodded.

"Sophia's the CEO of I2 and whilst Duel Monsters is a non-contact sport, she knows better than anyone that accidents happen." Raven responded and the other duelists nodded before picking up Rachel's unconscious body and carrying her out. _"This isn't over dear brother." _Raven thought as she glanced at where Emil was before putting her hood back up and leaving the room.


	25. Questions and Answers

Author's note: Trigger warning for the opening scene of this chapter

An hour had passed since Sophia had returned to the castle and with Rachel out of commission, she had decided to leave the second session until the next day and extend that session another hour, a prospect that Sophia was none too pleased with.

"_I knew it was a risk basing an entire tournament in a virtual world, that's one of the reasons why I waited an extra couple of years before I was satisfied that the pods worked perfectly." _Sophia thought as she walked down the hallways of the dungeons with several of her men by her side, the dungeons had fallen into disuse in recent years and Sophia had only really planned to use them if a duelist was disqualified and they couldn't get them onto the ship for whatever reason and even then it was only to be used for a severe offense, however Sophia's hand had been forced. _"I'm not a tech nerd like Jade is but I know that anything that can go wrong with technology will go wrong, I can only hope that this will be an isolated incident."_

"We're here Sophia." One of her men broke Sophia's train of thought before they stopped in front of one of the cells were Max, still wearing the red suit from his Pegasus disguise, stood with his arms crossed, to the left of the cell stood Kaiba who looked as unhappy as she did. "We've been interrogating him since you got back but he hasn't spoken a word."

"I gathered as much." Sophia nodded before she walked up the cell bars. "So Max, or do you prefer Pegasus? Doesn't matter, what was your end goal exactly?"

"I've got nothing to say to you." Max scoffed as he folded his arms. "But I will say this, I was planning to attack you and leave you for dead once we got far enough into the cave." Max added before licking his lips perversely. "Raping you, cutting you up, the whole nine yards, by the time anyone found you it would've been too late."

"And they say Chelsea Cunningham sets a bad example as the Illinois Regional Champion." Sophia scoffed and Max clenched a fist. "Did you forget who you planned to attack? I'm the I2 CEO and the daughter of one of the richest men in the world, someone would've come looking for me sooner or later, whether or not they prevented you from using your tiny weapon on me is another matter."

"You say that like it hasn't happened to you before." Max scoffed and Sophia's eyes narrowed. "Oh yeah, my master told me everything, about that night after a party when another pro-duelist broke into your home because he heard that you were a little slut…"

"Enough!" Sophia snapped before reaching through the bars and grabbing Max by his suit and pulling him closer. ""Who is this master your working for? And why is he targeting my tournament?"

"Wouldn't you like to know? Besides, I'm pretty sure this counts as assault, I'm going to sue your breast implants off your chest lady!" Max scoffed and Sophia growled.

"Sophia." Kaiba said calmly and Sophia took a deep breath before letting go, she stood to the side and let Kaiba step into Max's view. "Max, you're a joke and even if your claim had any merit, there are a handful of witnesses who'll say that you provoked her."

"So, what are you going to do to me?" Max asked and Kaiba smirked.

"We're going to leave you to sweat in this cell overnight, maybe then you'll talk." Kaiba responded before motioning to Sophia to follow him, as the two CEOs walked away Kaiba turned to the young woman. "You realize how bad that could've gotten yes?"

"You mean me following that bastard into the cave or me assaulting him without you to calm me down? Either way, the answer's yes." Sophia nodded as she glanced back towards the cell. "I don't think we'll get much out of him, Max may have been the Illinois Regional Champion, but his reign is infamous in Illinois for being one of the most boring on record."

"There was one other thing I wanted to address, and I think you know what." Kaiba commented and Sophia took a deep breath.

"Just so we're clear, this conversation does not leave the dungeons." Sophia commented and Kaiba nodded respectfully. "It happened a year before my stepfather retired as I2 CEO and I took over, by that point I was still a pro-league duelist and as we discussed before, I slept around a lot back then, however I wasn't being entirely truthful about why I stopped sleeping around." Sophia added before taking a deep breath. "Do you remember Blake Addams?"

"That duelist from California who was convicted of rape and blacklisted for life?" Kaiba asked and Sophia nodded. "His victim's identity was withheld, the only clue to her identity was that she was another Pro-League duelist from California…..." Kaiba trailed off before it hit him like a ton of bricks. "You were his victim?!"

"It feels like a lifetime ago now, like Max said, it was after a tournament after party, I didn't sleep with anyone, but I was being flirty, never really meant anything by it because by that point I had a decent amount of alcohol in me." Sophia sighed before taking a deep breath. "My bedroom antics were well known among the other pro-duelists, it was right after I did that sex tape I told you about and whilst me and the other participants in that three-way agreed to never release it to the public unless our careers went down the toilet at the exact same time and only if we all agreed to it, as I said, it was filmed on my phone and it is in my possession, as for how that ties into the incident well, you know how fast gossip travels in this sport."

"I know that all too well." Seto nodded in response and Sophia took a deep breath.

"Well, Blake took that to mean that I wouldn't say no to anything and tried to get me to have sex with him, I wasn't the only woman he tried it on that night but after an hour I became his most persistent target." Sophia explained as she closed her eyes briefly. "I still don't know why the pro-league duelist hosting the party didn't throw him out, when I spoke to her after the incident she was apologetic as all hell and admitted that she should've stepped in long before he approached me but the point is, I refused to sleep with him because I had a headache from the tournament, but he followed me home and paid off the head of security to let him in."

"That son of a bitch." Kaiba said angrily once he realized where Sophia was going with this. "I'm not going to ask what happened next, just what happened afterwards."

"To be honest, the attack is just a blur as far as my memory is concerned." Sophia admitted as she leaned against a wall. "I remember getting out of the shower and seeing Blake standing there, I told him to leave and reached for my phone to call security when he refused before he pounced, the rest? Just repressed memories." Sophia added as she took a deep breath. "That attack lasted a few hours at least, by the time the pain stopped it was at least 4:00am in the morning and I got home around midnight but it was why I started taking self-defense classes and insisted that Raven and Jade started taking the same classes, I refused to be a victim again and I didn't want either of the women in my employ to go through what I went through." Sophia added before taking a deep breath.

"Take your time Sophia." Kaiba assured her and Sophia nodded. "I know this is a painful memory for you, even if the memory of the attack is mostly suppressed."

"I was found the two hours later by one of my maids when they showed up to start their shift, he had left me on the floor with nothing covering me up and as soon as I told her that I was raped, she covered me up with a bathroom towel and called the police." Sophia explained as she ran a hand through her hair. "Blake had a reputation in the California scene s a womanizer, god's gift to women and all that crap, didn't exactly help that he was a big, muscular and admittedly good looking guy but from what I gathered from talking to the women he slept with, I was the first one to say no to him, they were shocked that he went that far as he was apparently a gentle lover with those who did agree to have sex with him but then the truth started to come out."

"What do you mean "truth"?" Kaiba asked and Sophia took a deep breath.

"I wanted to make sure the prosecution had all the evidence they needed to throw him away for a long time so I had Jade hack into his computer, most of the info she dug up wound up being tossed out of court but the info that wasn't thrown out of court was damning to say the least." Sophia added before thinking back a bit. "He belonged to several misogynistic Facebook groups, different names butt the same trash being posted in them including one group who thought rape should be legalized, I wish I was kidding." Sophia added when she saw the look on Kaiba's face.

"I can only imagine how pissed off Jade was." Kaiba nodded once the surprise wore off. "With her hacking skills, she could've easily delated those groups."

"And she did, after the trial." Sophia nodded as she folded her arms. "In fact, the only thing stopping Jade from outright deleting the groups by hacking into the admin's accounts was the fact that we needed that evidence for the trial but as soon as Blake was convicted, well, let's just say that Jade saw too it that every one of those groups were deleted in quick succession, the admins had their accounts deleted and computers fried remotely to boot, there are still groups like that but Jade has made it her personal mission to delete any that she comes across." Sophia added before taking a deep breath. "About a week after the attack my father came home from a business conference in Paris, needless to say, he wasn't happy to come home to the news that not only had his stepdaughter been raped but security basically held the door open for her rapist."

"That explains why Pegasus was so invested in that case." Kaiba nodded as he thought back to the case. "I remember him going ballistic."

"Take it from me, that's an understatement." Sophia nodded with a grim look on her face. "After he saw to it that the head of security was fired, father did everything he could to make sure that Blake got the book thrown at him, fortunately Blake was considerate enough to use a condom but dumb enough to throw it in the trash can just outside my apartment on top of the evidence that Jade had gathered, for the record, I don't know if the attack left me unable to have children or not, that wasn't exactly a priority at the time, my father saw too it that he would never compete in a tournament again, pretty much every duelist he knew, intimately or otherwise, washed their hands off him, and I disappeared from the spotlight after that, both to recover and prepare for my current role."

"You have my assurance that no one else in the castle will learn of this." Kaiba assured her and Sophia nodded gratefully before she took a deep breath. "Dare I ask, what did the other women think?"

"It scared the hell out of the other women in the California regional scene, many of whom I had slept with before the attack but that's beside the point, the main thought process was that if Blake was willing to rape someone who had said no to his advances then who knows what he was capable off?" Sophia explained before letting out a sigh. "Fortunately, I was his first and only rape victim, normally when something like this happens, we get other victims coming forward but, in this case, I was the only one." Sophia added before letting out a deep breath. "I never thought I'd be discussing this with anyone but my psychologist, much less my business partner in this tournament, but last night's duel made me realize that I had better tell you before you looked it up yourself."

"I respect your privacy too much to look it up without asking you." Kaiba assured her and Sophia let out a sigh of relief. "As for the childbearing issue, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it, there are other options of course."

"Been looking at them since father went over the contract with me." Sophia responded with a nod as the two CEOS started to leave the dungeon. "And before you ask, I wasn't involved in the writing process and I'm very unhappy that the writers decided to include several rape storylines in the questlines, they will be taken out before the MMO goes public."

"Even before you revealed that, I suspected that would be the case." Kaiba nodded in understanding before they left the dungeon.

*elsewhere in the castle*

Whilst that was going on in the dungeons the situation in the virtual pod room was being handled as best they could after the delay.

"The good news is the equipment's easy enough to use if you have the right skillset, which I do." Jade commented as the Australian woman scratched her head whilst looking at the pod equipment and the other duelists who watched Raven's duel watched on. "Bad news is, I'm a competitor in the tournament and to operate the system, I'd need to drop out, I've got too much pride to even consider doing that."

"If needed, I can make the trip to Duelist Kingdom." Robert said over the Skype call and Jade turned to the laptop. "I wasn't able to attend due to a family emergency, but I was one of the technicians who developed the Virtual World Technology."

"Just one problem Rob, you live in LA and I know that it's a six hour flight from LA to Domino City." Jade responded as she folded her arms. "And that's not counting the overnight trip from Domino Pier to Duelist Kingdom, and from the look of things remote access is out of the question as well."

"Sophia was worried about hackers getting into the system." Robert nodded as he understood what Jade meant. "Even if I made the trip, Rachel was given a day to recover after her attack by that thing, what are her injuries?"

"Fortunately, Rachel's injuries seem to be minor, doctor thinks that the only reason that she was out cold by the time Raven showed up was because she fainted." Jade responded before turning to Raven. "So, Raven, Nadia, whatever your name is, care to tell us what that was about?"

"We've known each other for how long Jade?" Raven asked as she folded her arms. "And you still don't trust my word?"

"If I didn't trust you, you would've known by now." Jade responded before she stepped out from behind the console. "But that thing put us all in danger and seemed to know you, Emil wasn't it? He even called you his sister."

"Your right, I do owe you an explanation, all of you." Raven nodded reluctantly as she glanced at the other duelists. "Follow me." Raven added before leading the other duelists out of the room and to a different room, Chloe and Chelsea quickly recognized it from the night before as they were on the balcony overlooking the hallway where the Duelist Kingdom Finals took place many years ago. "Many of you know me as Raven." Raven stated before removing her hood. "My real name is Nadia Kowalczyk, I am originally from Poland and I have a history with the demon that's been troubling us."

"What do you mean by history?" Andreas asked as he stepped forward. "When we stepped in to give you our support, you called us fucking idiots, I believe we deserve an explanation for that as well."

"I apologize deeply for that I didn't want to put anyone else in danger in case Emil defeated me." Raven apologized with a nod towards Andreas. "As for what I mean, it's simple, well, maybe its simple to me but even so, as many of you know, the dueling scene in Poland has been in it's infancy for several years now, when I arrived at Las Vegas for Battle City, I was the first Polish Duelist to compete at a major tournament, my brother Emil hated that fact."

"The fact that you got to Battle City first or the slow start for the Polish Dueling Scene?" Chloe asked and Raven nodded. "Or is it both?"

"It is both." Raven nodded before sighing. "I don't know how he did to this day, but Emil got in contact with a demon, he was willing to sell his soul to become a world class duelist." Raven added before placing her hand over her eyes. "But I intervened, my intervention cost us both dearly, it left him in the form you saw and as for me?" Raven added before removing her hand, in her hand where two contact lenses and the duelists looked back at her eyes before realizing what she meant. "And left me blinded."

"Your blind?!" Andreas asked with a stunned look on his face, Raven's eyes were almost completely clouded over and Raven nodded. "If you don't mind me saying, you don't seem to have any issue getting around."

"These contact lenses are specially designed ones that Sophia brought for me, they allow me to see and get around easily," Raven explained before popping both contact lenses back in. "It's not perfect, my duel monster cards are all in braille as is my laptop keyboard and legally, I cannot drive, I often have to rely on public transport if I wish to travel around a large city such as Chicago, New York or Domino City and if my contacts fall out, well, I'm hopeless without them."

"There's one thing I don't get." Chelsea commented as she stepped forward. "Why the Raven persona?"

"It's simple really, the demon my brother contacted was a raven demon." Raven explained as she turned to Chelsea. "Call it irony, a sick joke, whatever you want, I don't care, the moment I lost my ability to see was the moment I abandoned my real name."

"When we first met, you displayed some impressive fighting skills." Andreas commented and Raven turned to him. "How does your blindness affect that?"

"Not a lot, ever since an incident several years ago that I won't go into detail about, Sophia has been taking self defense classes from one of the best martial artists in the world, because she didn't want me or Jade to suffer the same fate she insisted that we take the classes as well." Raven explained as she nodded towards Jade. "Jade doesn't get many chances to use it as she isn't a field operative but as far as fighting skills go, we're on the same level, my contacts help off course but even if I didn't have my contacts in, I am still a formidable fighter."

"You just have to rely more on sound and smell than your eyesight in that scenario, right?" Chloe asked and Raven nodded. "So, what now? Because Rachel's knocked out, the session's been delayed until tomorrow."

"You'd think they'd have brought more than one technician to operate the pods." Chelsea commented and Jade turned to her.

"Do you really think the virtual world system is just maintained by Rachel alone?" Jade asked and Chelsea paused. "Sophia had to fly in a small army of technicians to get everything set up in the castle to begin with, and maintaining the world is an arduous task that requires round the clock maintenance." Jade added before taking a deep breath. "Rachel is the chief technician on the project but I's not as simple as moving one technician from somewhere else to take over from her because if something goes wrong at that technicians station and they can't tend to it, then the whole system will go down, not to mention the fact that each technician has a different sociality." Jade added before frowning. "Don't you have a master's degree in computers as well?" Jade asked and Chelsea's eyes narrowed.

"Yeah but I've never operated something on this scale, the most my skills get put to use is when something goes wrong with either my laptop or gaming pc." Chelsea responded as her eyes narrowed. "So, you'll forgive me for not being a know-it-all like you."

"Chelsea, Jade, this isn't the time for arguing." Raven interrupted them and the two women stopped in their tracks. "As for the rest of the day, I honestly don't care, Sophia is dealing with that prisoner in the dungeon but I think the best we can do is wait out the rest of the day and get a good night's sleep, it's not like arguing is going to speed up Rachel's recovery."

"Just one question, not to sound insensitive or anything." Nicola chimed in and Raven turned to her. "How is your eyesight in the virtual world? I know Andreas is required to remove his glasses before entering the pod."

"I too am required to remove my contacts, fortunately they allow me to wait until I'm already in the pod." Raven responded as she turned to the autistic women. "Fortunately, Sophia was kind enough to give me perfect eyesight in the virtual world, and before you ask, I have considered laser eye surgery, but I've been told that my eyesight is too far gone for it to work." Raven added before putting her hood up. "I think we've discussed this topic enough and I don't know what your going to do but I intend to return to my room."

"Agreed." Andreas nodded before they walked off.

*later that night*

By now most of the duelists were in bed ready to pick up where they had left off the previous session, including Ariana.

"_Dark card somehow gets into the Virtual World I almost get possessed and Sophia and Raven got attacked." _Ariana thought as she sat down on her bed in her pajamas after putting away her day clothes. _"I'm almost tempted to ask how things can get worse, but I'd rather not think about that! Better get some sleep." _Ariana thought before swinging her legs over and getting ready for bed.

*inside Ariana's dream*

It didn't take Ariana long to get some sleep and, in her dream,, she found herself in a dark void wearing the same outfit that she had worn to the first day of the tournament, the nineteen year old adjusted a bra strap instinctively as she glanced around the void.

"Hello?" Ariana called out after a few moments but got no answers, at least not at first before the whispering that she had been periodically hearing outside of tournament sessions started again, Ariana covered her ears to try to block out the sound but it eventually got too loud and for once, she could hear what the voices were saying.

She quickly wished she hadn't. "She's mentally ill." One voice said.

"She will never be normal." Another voice said and Ariana grit her teeth.

"She should be institutionalized." Another voice said and Ariana could feel the tears coming out of her eyes as the abuse ring out, the next few moments were hell for Ariana as she tried to block it out until eventually, she had enough.

"SHUT UP! SHUT UP!" Ariana cried out and all at once, the voices stopped, Ariana took several deep breaths before straightening up her body. "I just want to be normal, why can't I be normal?!"

"Normal?" A mocking female voice rang out rand out and Ariana looked up, it was the doppelganger again and she was dressed in the same outfit as she walked towards Ariana. "We both know that you'll never be normal!"

"That's a lie." Ariana insisted as she grit her teeth. "My medication allows me…."

"To put up a facade of normalcy when in reality, you're a scared little girl who's way out of her depths." The doppelganger interrupted Ariana as she got closer. "My previous offer still stands, join me and we'll be unstoppable."

"Go to hell!" Ariana snapped at her before throwing a punch, however her doppelganger disappeared before the punch could connect and she stumbled to the ground, before Ariana could help herself back to her feet however she heard laughter from all around her and looked up.

The last thing she saw in the dream was several laughing faces looking down at her, it was all people she knew, Sophia, Andreas, Amanda, Adrienne, Kaiba, even some of her friends from North Academy.

*back in the real world*

Ariana awoke with a start and glanced around her room, a quick glance at her alarm clock confirmed one thing, she hadn't been asleep for that long, twenty minutes at most, but it felt for much longer.

"First my dream the previous night, then the vision this morning and now this?" Ariana muttered under her breath after she sat up in bed, without a second thought she got out of bed and put her shoes on. "I need to clear my head, there's a balcony with a view of the whole island not far from my room, that should be perfect." Ariana muttered to herself before she left her room and made her away out to the balcony.

She had no idea how long she was out there until she had company as she was lost in thought until a male voice cleared his throat. "Hey, your Ariana, right?" Ariana looked up and saw Gavin Freeman standing next to her apparently having just gathered up the courage to speak to her. "I've seen you around, I believe we're neighbors."

"Oh yeah, Gavin, right?" Ariana greeted him with a nod before turning back towards the view. "I had a nightmare, I figured getting some fresh air would help clear my head."

"Same, you know, the old "show up to a tournament final in nothing but your underwear" dream." Gavin commented with a shrug and Ariana laughed a bit. "You?"

"I'd rather not discuss it, it gets into personal details, you know?" Ariana sighed and Gavin nodded in understanding. "I've been having these weird nightmares a lot recently to be honest but I'm managing them."

"Maybe it's just first tournament jitters, this is my first tournament outside of England even if I did get eliminated early." Gavin admitted and Ariana nodded in agreement. "You?"

"It's my first tournament outside of my region, Pennsylvania to be precise." Ariana responded with a nod as she leaned on tee railing. "And if things continue the way they are, it won't be my last."

"Here's hoping." Gavin nodded in agreement before they shared a fist bump. "I'm heading back to bed."

"I'll join you." Ariana responded with a yawn before quickly regretting her choice of words when she saw the look on Gavin's face. "Join you in going back to bed, not join you in your bedroom, trying to save myself for marriage anyway."

"Fair play." Gavin responded with a laugh. "Good night Ariana."

"Good night." Ariana responded before the two duelists went back to their rooms. _"That dream can't be because of my bi-polar disorder, i took my meds hours ago." _Ariana thought before heading to her room. _"Hopefully I won't have another nightmare like it." _Ariana thought before closing the door.


	26. Return to Order

It was the third day of the tournament and by now most of the duelists were either just waking up or going through their morning routine before breakfast including the only bi-polar duelist in the tournament.

"_Okay, just got to get freshened up, get dressed, take my meds and check in with Sophia." _Ariana thought as she brushed her long hair in front of her bathroom mirror after just drying it off whilst covering up her naked body with nothing but a towel, it took her more time than usual to get to sleep after her nightmare the night before, but she was eventually able to get a decent amount of sleep. _"Simple right? What's the worst that can happen?"_

"_Are you sure about that?" _The same voice who had helped her win against the Gemini Elves that night before, but Ariana did her best to ignore it, that is until she dropped her hairbrush and bent over to pick it up.

When Ariana stood up straight, she nearly jumped out of her skin when she saw the same demonic face that she had seen in the women's bathroom before it disappeared only to show her a hellish landscape seemingly confined to the inside of the bathroom mirror, Ariana tried to move but suddenly found chains wrapped around her wrists and ankles which, despite having no visible anchor point, were firmly keeping her in place. "You belong here!"

"No, no." Ariana whispered as she shook her head, she looked around the bathroom sink, spotted her hair dryer and she grabbed it, without a second thought she threw it at the bathroom mirror shattering it and thankfully that seemed to end the vision. "What the hell is happening to me?!" Ariana asked as she took several deep breaths. "Am I losing my mind?"

"Ms. Sommers?" One of the guards called out and Ariana looked up. "Are you alright? I heard glass smashing."

"_Oh great, how am I supposed to explain this?!" _Ariana thought as she looked at the shattered remains of her bathroom mirror, most of the pieces had managed to land in the sink but a few had made their way to the bathroom floor. _"Pretty sure that mirror alone costs more than my North Academy Tuition Fee!"_

"Do you want me to come in?" The guard asked again, and Ariana shook her head.

"Unless you want to see a teenager in nothing but a towel, then no!" Ariana called back and when the guard didn't respond she continued. "I had a freak out and broke my bathroom mirror in the process, otherwise I'm fine."

"Don't worry about that, Sophia will cover it." The guard assured her, and the Greek-Iranian woman breathed a sigh of relief. "Let me know when your decent and I'll send in a clean-up crew to clean up the mess."

"Yeah, sure." Ariana responded before stepping out of the bathroom and being careful to not step on the shattered glass that had made its way to the floor and started getting dressed. _"I know I have mental problems, what with my bi-polar disorder and all." _Ariana thought as she finished dying herself off and started getting dressed. _"But whatever that demon is, it's seriously messing with my mind!" _Ariana thought before she picked out a black tank top and dark blue jeans from her wardrobe and started putting them on. _"Damn it, why can't I be normal?!"_

*ten minutes later*

Once she had taken her meds and the clean-up crew had cleaned up the mess Ariana went straight to Sophia's office for her check-in, and if Sophia wasn't already annoyed from the events of the previous day she was now.

"Ariana, you realize how expensive those mirrors are, right?" Sophia asked with an exasperated sigh and Ariana lowered her head. "Don't worry about replacing it, it should be replaced and paid for by the time the first session ends, but if this continues then I may need to stop being so lenient with you."

"I swear, it won't happen again." Ariana responded as she ran a hand down her face. "I just wanted that vision to end and that was the first thing I thought off."

"Frankly, I'm just glad that you had enough sense to break it with your hair dryer rather than your fists." Sophia responded with a deep sigh and Ariana quickly nodded in agreement, "Other than that, everything going well?"

"Yeah, I think so." Ariana responded as she brushed some hair over her shoulder. "Had another nightmare last night but that was short lived, and yes, I took my meds are soon as I got dressed."

"As long as you stay on them, that shouldn't be a problem." Sophia responded with a nod and Ariana shifted her weight. "How are you getting on with Nicola's party?"

"Fine, I mean it was awkward since I started off as her boyfriend's enemy, but we got passed that hurdle pretty quickly." Ariana responded before letting out a deep breath. "I did accidentally blurt out that I was bi-polar, but they accepted me for who I am, guess it helped that Nicola is autistic and all."

"Perhaps but watch who you say that too." Sophia advised her as she shifted her weight. "I know better than anyone that gossip travels fast in the dueling world, whilst your party might respect the need for your privacy who's to say the next person you tell will do the same?"

"True enough." Ariana nodded and Sophia paused.

"You mind if I ask you something?" Sophia asked and Ariana shrugged prompting her to continue. "I know I said before that I've heard horror stories about people with bi-polar disorder going off their meds, how do you feel about you condition exactly?"

"How do I feel?" Ariana echoed before letting out a deep breath. "If your asking if I'm going to be a spokesperson for people with bi-polar disorder like Nicola is for people with autism, the only chance of that happen is by complete accident."

"Really?" Sophia asked with a raised eyebrow. "You were open about it on the roof."

"Because the demon outed me, and I figured that there was no use in lying or sugarcoating it." Ariana responded and Sophia nodded in understanding. "Truth be told, there isn't a day where I don't wish that I never got bi-polar disorder, I hate having to take medication for it twice a day just so I can function and go about my daily routine, hell I almost got arrested for drug smuggling by the TSA after they found my meds in my carry-on luggage."

"Let's be honest, that would make you out to be a very incompetent drug smuggler." Sophia joked and Ariana grinned a bit before sighing.

"Phil said as much after I accidentally outed myself as bi-polar to my party." Ariana nodded before she frowned. "I'll probably laugh about that incident in later years but in all honesty. I just want to be normal." Ariana sighed as she lowered her head. "Taking meds daily just so I don't go insane? That's not normal and I hate it! But at the same time, I know what'll happen if I go off them."

"You make it sound like you've gone of your meds before." Sophia commented and Ariana nodded reluctantly.

"Only once, it was during the early days, when I was still coming to grips with the fact that I have to spend the rest of my days on meds just so I can function." Ariana admitted before taking a deep breath. "I know you said that gossip travels fast but can you make sure that what I'm about to say doesn't leave this office?"

"You have my word." Sophia nodded and Ariana took a deep breath.

"I was still at North Academy at the time when I foolishly decided to not take my meds, I thought I could handle it." Ariana responded before taking a deep breath. "I didn't even last five minutes before I beat the crap out of another student, I can't even remember the reason, but it was bad, they found me sobbing in a fetal position nearby." Ariana added before seeing the look on Sophia's face. "If you're about to say that I was lucky to not get expelled, believe me, I know, but once I admitted that I hadn't taken my meds the school took pity on me and even the student forgave me."

"Just be glad that it wasn't before you were diagnosed." Sophia commented and Ariana quickly nodded in agreement. "I don't think the school would've been as merciful in that case."

"For what it's worth, I haven't even considered going off my meds since then." Ariana responded as she took a deep breath. "There have been mornings where I haven't taken my meds because I slept in but I made up for that by just taking twice the regular dosage at once during the evening, and yes, I've been careful about doing that, I know drug overdoses are a thing, but even with that in mind, it still affects my social life."

"What do you mean?" Sophia asked and Ariana sighed.

"The only reason I'm still single in spite of my looks is because most boys my age get scared off when they learn that I'm bi-polar and believe me, I want a boyfriend, preferably before I turn twenty one, but at that rate I'm going I'll still be single by the time I'm in my thirties!" Ariana added with an exasperated sigh as she leaned back. "All because of the horror stories you mentioned, I had plenty of interest before the diagnoses, even had a few dates set up, but once word got out all the boys suddenly lost interest."

"I'm sorry if I hit a nerve both times, I said that." Sophia apologized and Ariana shook her head.

"You couldn't have known and it's not like you have your dad's Millennium Item hidden under your hair." Ariana pointed out and Sophia nodded before showing that her right eye was indeed intact. "I wouldn't event him at his worse to probe into my mind anyway, I'm not even sure what goes on in there most days."

"You won't have to worry about any of that on the pro-league, just from my own experience there's hardly any judgmental assholes on the pro-leagues and by and large, they are a welcoming bunch." Sophia assured her and Ariana grinned.

"I have to admit, I was worried about how the older pro-leaguers would treat me, being a relative unknown at her first major tournament and that's before they find out that I am bi-polar." Ariana admitted with a grin. "But my party's been friendly with me and Amanda and Adrienne even invited me to join them at breakfast yesterday when there wasn't a table available and suggested that I sue my former management company after I told them about how badly they screwed me over."

"They weren't wrong about that." Sophia responded as she shifted her weight. "When a management company takes on the contract of a young up and coming duelist like you, their job is to guide that duelist's career to the best of their abilities, especially if they turn out to be a hot prospect like someone coming in second at their first regional tournament."

"The ironic thing is the management company told me as much when I signed that contract." Ariana added and Sophia nodded.

"If it's any consolation, they will be under investigation as soon as the tournament ends, turns out you weren't an isolated case." Sophia explained and Ariana nodded. "As for the boyfriend thing, don't worry about that, it may be an old cliché but it's true, there's plenty more fish in the sea."

"Again, mom told me that every time I got rejected, kinda got sick of hearing that phrase after a while." Ariana admitted as she shifted her weight. "But like I said, at this rate I may be thirty before I find a boyfriend." Ariana added before she heard her stomach growling. "Can I go off for breakfast yet?"

"Go ahead, it's still early so finding a table shouldn't be a problem." Sophia nodded and Ariana grinned before she stood up, as she went to open the door it opened and Kaiba stood in her way. "Let her pass Kaiba, she just did her check in."

"Very well." Kaiba nodded before standing to the side to Ariana pass and she walked past him and headed to the dining room, Kaiba closed the door behind him and sat down in front of Sophia's desk. "We had to let Max go."

"Excuse me?!" Sophia demanded as her eyes narrowed. "That man impersonated my father, planned to rape me and leave me for dead and used my sexual assault to mock me and we're letting him go?!"

"I wasn't happy about it either, but I got a call from a top law firm in Chicago, they said that unless we released him in the next twenty four hours, they would be charging us with kidnapping and yes, I checked, it is a real law firm." Kaiba added and Sophia clenched a fist. "And unfortunately, the only witness to those incidents was you, me and our men, he is off the island however."

"This doesn't make sense." Sophia responded as she rubbed her forehead in annoyance. "There isn't any wi-fi on the island, the only reason there's an internet connection at all is because I paid for internet towers to be installed out of my back pocket and even that is spotty at best, how did they find out so quickly?"

"I don't know, my only guess is that there's another operative of the demon in the castle." Kaiba responded and Sophia's frown deepened.

"At least tell me we got something useful out of that bastard?" Sophia asked and Kaiba shook his head.

"Even after spending a night down there, he remained quiet." Kaiba responded and Sophia sighed. "I don't like that any more than you do, what about Ariana? I heard that she broke a mirror?"

"It was another vision and she used her hairdryer to break free of it and the mirror." Sophia explained with an exasperated sigh. "There are two things I'm thankful for, one, that it wasn't the mirror in the women's bathroom and two, Ariana didn't use her fists but I'm starting to worry about her mental health."

"We know her mental health is shaky thanks to her bi-polar disorder, as long as she stays on her meds, she should be fine." Kaiba nodded in understanding before sighing. "You know what you have the authority to do as the organizer of the tournament, right?"

"Off course I do, I was withdrawn from my first Battle City because of it." Sophia nodded as she leaned back. "I know that I can remove any duelist from the roster even if the tournament is ongoing, usually in case of family emergency or the duelist getting injured during the tournament, come to think of it, didn't that almost happen to Chloe after her first Battle City Duel?"

"The one where she had to leave in an ambulance because it was her first Orichalcos Duel?" Kaiba asked and Sophia nodded. "That was just the beginning of the PR nightmare that was the Orichalcos but back to the topic at hand, it's rare but it wouldn't be the first time a duelist was removed for the sake of their mental health and if you think the strain is getting too much for Ariana, you know what to do and I doubt that there will be a duelist on the roster who would blame you." Kaiba nodded before frowning. "I remember that happening to you."

"That wasn't my finest hour, to say the least." Sophia sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. "I remember being salty over the fact that my replacement got eliminated not long after I returned home, tried to get the teachers to let me go back even though, in hindsight, I know there wasn't a chance of that happening."

"A duelist's pride can easily be shattered, and I know that better than anyone." Kaiba nodded in agreement before standing up. "I think we'd better grab a table before they are all taken up."

"Agreed." Sophia nodded before leaving her office.

*later in the dining room*

By now breakfast was well underway and Ariana had managed to grab herself a table in the middle of the dining hall, most of the other tables were occupied so she paid the other duelists no mind.

Largely because there was a lot on hers. _"Well, I haven't heard those whispers once since that dream last night so maybe they've left me alone now." _Ariana thought as she ate her breakfast, scrambled eggs and mushrooms on toast, whilst momentarily glancing around the room. _"How messed up is my life when the fact that I'm not being tormented by demonic whispers is a highlight of my morning? Seriously!"_

"Excuse me miss, is this seat taken?" Ariana looked up and saw Claudio standing across from her with a plate of food in his hands though she couldn't see what was on it. "All the other tables seem to be occupied."

"Fine, not like there's much going on right now." Ariana shrugged her shoulders in response and Claudio sat down before setting his plate down. "I don't think I've seen you around."

"Oh, I've been around, just over at the other end the dining hall." Claudio responded as he motioned to the western half of the dining room. "Where are my manners? My name is Claudio Caruso." Claudio introduced himself and that set off alarm bells in Ariana's head.

"Claudio Caruso? The same Claudio Caruso who runs C.C. Management Inc.?" Ariana asked as her eyes narrowed and Claudio didn't answer. "Your company nearly sabotaged my career as a duelist!"

"My dear, you must have me mistaken for someone else." Claudio responded but Ariana remained unconvinced. "True, I run a management company, but I would've remembered having someone as beautiful as you on my roster."

"_And he's flirting with a teenager, great!" _Ariana thought as she quickly finished what remained of her breakfast. "Look, I don't know who you think you are, but I want nothing to do with you." Ariana added before she picked up her plate and went to walk off only for Claudio to grab her by the wrist. "What the hell?"

"Leaving so soon? I swear, teenagers these days have no respect for their elders." Claudio mocked her and Ariana managed to wrestle her wrist free without dropping the plate. "Don't you wish to hear what I have to say?"

"No, now leave me alone!" Ariana responded before walking off only for Claudio to reach out for her wrist again only to be stopped by a much larger hand.

"Comrade, I believe the lady said no." Dmitri commented as he glared at the older man and Claudio turned to the massive Russian. "Now leave her be."

"Fine." Claudio backed down once he realized how much bigger Dmitri was than him. "But this isn't over."

"I beg to differ." Sophia's voice rang out and Claudio span around to see Sophia standing behind where Ariana was sitting. "Another stunt like that Claudio and you'll be the first duelist to be ejected from the island, because you were disqualified for assaulting another duelist."

"Fine, I know my place." Claudio scoffed as he folded his arms and Ariana quickly left the dining hall after putting her plate with the dirty dishes.

*a few minutes later*

"_What the hell was that about?" _Ariana thought as she felt up the wrist that Claudio had grabbed, she was still outside the dining hall and had no desire to go back in after that incident. _"I finally meet the guy who tried to kill my career before it got started and he assaults me? That definitely wasn't what I thought would happen before I left Pittsburgh to come here!" _Ariana thought as she glanced at her aching wrist.

"_You know what you need to do to combat someone like him." _A familiar voice rang out as the hallway darkened and Ariana froze as her doppelganger appeared before her wearing the same outfit, before Ariana could do anything else her double pinned her to the wall in a manner that suggested that they were about to start making out. _"Join me and we won't have to worry about people like him!" _Ariana's double added as she leaned in for a kiss and Ariana closed her eyes.

"Miss?" Ariana opened her eyes and saw that she was alone in the brightly lit hallway again, well aside from the much larger man who had addressed her. "Are you alright?" Dmitri asked as he closed the door behind him, and Ariana shook her head.

"My wrist aches from where he grabbed me but I'm fine otherwise." Ariana responded as she glanced up at the massive Russian. "Thanks for your help back there I don't think he would've left me alone otherwise."

"Don't worry about it, I simply happened to be the closest person who was paying attention." Dmitri assured her before offering a handshake. "Dmitri Romanov, Russian National Champion."

"Ariana Sommers, came in second at the Pennsylvania Regionals and that's about it." Ariana responded sheepishly as she accepted the handshake. "I'm still in my rookie year, hell this is my first major tournament."

"Ahh, we've all been there." Dmitri said reassuringly and Ariana grinned. "How has your first tournament been?"

"Mixed bag to be honest but I'm just glad that I'm competing in a major tournament after my first management company nearly screwed me over." Ariana admitted and Dmitri raised an eyebrow. "My first management company was deliberately withholding major tournament invites from me, including this year's Battle City, that guy I was talking with? He runs that company though he denied it for some reason."

"Likely so you couldn't embarrass him in front of everyone but that is not good." Dmitri responded with a grunt though she could tell from his body language that he had more than a few choice words about that. "Your planning to sue them, yes?"

"My parents are, I'm only nineteen, but my mom's busy with her restaurant and my dad's a criminal defense lawyer." Ariana responded with a shrug and Dmitri frowned. "It took Sophia to get me back on the Battle City Roster but that's a long story."

"I can assure you that your first management company isn't an indication of what the others are like." Dmitri assured her and Ariana grinned. "Look forward to facing you in the tournament at least." Dmitri added before he started to walk off.

"Just one question." Ariana asked and Dmitri turned to her. "How tall are you exactly? I don't think I've ever met someone as big as you before." Ariana asked and Dmitri chuckled.

"Six foot eleven out of game, in game? Likely closer to eight foot." Dmitri responded and Ariana blinked. "I chose the Goliath race."

"Right, makes sense I guess." Ariana responded with a sheepish grin before Dmitri walked off. _"Maybe the session will be normal compared to everything that's happened during the interlude."_

*in the virtual world*

The session had finally started and after it took Nicola's group a moment to regroup the Gemini Elves led them further into the jungle in search of the mystical beast, however Ariana still had the events of her last duel on her mind.

"_Who knows what would've happened if Sophia hadn't intervened?" _Ariana thought as she walked through the jungle trailing behind the others as she did. _"And then there's that voice! I could've won that duel on my own, but she still helped me, whoever that is."_

"_Are you sure about that?" _The voice asked her, but Ariana never finished as the elves led them to the grazing area and sure enough, the beast was there.

"Be careful as you approach, if you scare it off, you'll never find it for the rest of the night." The redhead advised Nicola who nodded before entering the clearing, the beast, which resembled a male deer but had a more dog like head and the horns, seemingly didn't notice her until Nicola stepped on a twig causing its head to snap up.

"_Think fast Nic." _Nicola thought before casting Speak with Animals. "I do not wish to harm you I only wish to ensure your safety." Nicola said simply and the beast tilted its head in Nicola's direction before motioning for her to follow it into a nearby cave.

"Should we follow her?" Phil asked and the blonde shook her head.

"The beast only trusts Nicola, if you follow her then that trust might be shattered." The blonde responded and Phil nodded as they watched the area, seconds later the ping rang out from their duel disks indicating that they had found a destiny orb and Nicola emerged from the cave. "I trust that went well."

"Yeah, and I got a new card out of it." Nicola responded with a confused look on her face as she held up a duel monster card with the beast's image on it, the text read "Mystical Beast Pieus" and it was a level four monster with 1500 attack and 1200 defense. "Don't really know what to make of it right now." Nicola added as she pocketed the card. "But it's getting late." Nicola noted as she glanced toward the sky and Ariana got an idea.

"Gemini Elves, I know we didn't get off to a great start, but can we stay in your village for the night?" Ariana asked and the elves shared a look before nodding. _"I don't like that look they just shared."_

"Off course, we have room in the village." The redhead added before they walked up to Ariana and caressed her chin. "And you are free to join us for the orgy, been so long since we've had a Tiefling partner, I especially love it when their tails go in…..." The redhead added and Ariana blushed a furious red.

"I'll…...I'll pass, thanks." Ariana stammered as she quickly backed away from the elves before giving the redhead a chance to finish. "I'm trying to save myself for marriage!"

"Are you sure? Many married couples have met each other at our orgies." The blonde responded and Ariana quickly shook her head as did the others when they turned their attention to them. "Suit yourself, you don't know what you're missing."

"_I'm missing my wife never letting me live down the fact that I took part in an orgy in a virtual world." _Phil thought as they followed the elves back to the village. _"I think we made the right decision, especially since Ariana getting married to a virtual being would be all kinds of weird, not to mention the fact that she's only nineteen!"_

*elsewhere in the world*

Now that they were finally back in the Virtual World Theresa's group were back to the point, they were at prior to the session ending early, namely they were on the run from the mob boss's men.

"Steal one Destiny Orb they said, it'll be fun they said." Theresa grumbled under her breath as the party ran deeper into the forest were the bounty hunters had chased them. "What possible negative consequences could arise from stealing from a mob boss?"

"Is that sarcasm I hear?" Yugi asked as he turned to Theresa and Theresa shook her head.

"Nah, I legitimately thought that Don Forreone was going to be perfectly okay with me stealing from him." Theresa responded with a tone that dripped sarcasm as the party went deeper into the woods. "Especially since I have ties to him thanks to my criminal background!"

"Let's be honest, that probably hurt more than stealing the destiny orb." Tyler commented dryly before something caught his eye just ahead. "There, we can hide in that cabin." Tyler called out and the other party members nodded before they made a rush to the cabin, Marie reached it first and held the door open for the others before entering the cabin and slamming the door shut. "Do you see them Marie?"

"They must've gotten lost in the foliage." Marie responded as she shook her head before glancing around. "Someone give me a hand barricading this thing, I'm not very strong in real life to begin with but as a gnome I'm even weaker."

"I'm on it." Tyler responded before moving a nearby closet in front of the door and Marie grinned. "I thought you had been going to the gym with Marcus anyway."

"Yeah, since I got him on the diet that basically saved his life." Marie nodded before frowning. "But I'm five foot nothing and weigh just short of a hundred pounds in real life, what I'm saying is that I'm not exactly the bodybuilding type and I mostly just stick to the treadmills and helping Marcus on the bench press when I go to the gym with him."

"If it helps, I think a six pack would look weird on a woman as tiny as you." Tyler admitted and Marie grinned in response. "So, what's next for us?"

"Well, we're in a cabin in the woods, if I see any redneck zombies then I'm out of here faster than you can say "best horror film produced after the 1980s." Theresa responded as she shook her head before sitting down on a table. "Cabin looked abandoned from the outside but it's in decent shape, we can probably hang out here for the night and leave in the morning." Theresa added and the others nodded. "If it was an option, we could sleep here for several nights but we can't stay in one place for to long with those bounty hunters after us."

"And if it comes to it, we can defeat them in a duel, so far me, Yugi and Tyler are the only ones who haven't dueled yet." Marie responded with a nod before she made herself comfortable. "I think we'd better have a look around before we do anything else, the cabin looked pretty big from the outside so we might be able to find some bedrooms at least."

"Agreed, and considering how late it is, I think we'd be better off doing it now." Yugi nodded in agreement before they left to explore the cavern.

*elsewhere in the world*

By now most of the adventuring parties were asleep but the woman running the tournament still needed to be updated on what was going on.

"Let's get this over with so I can get some damn sleep." Sophia groaned as she entered the HUD and Rachel's face appeared on the computer screen. "Didn't get a chance to say this before the session started but I'm glad to see that you're okay Rachel."

"Thanks, to be honest, I'm more embarrassed that I fainted than anything else." Rachel admitted with a sigh before taking a deep breath. "I'll get the big one out of the way, we might have just set a new record for fastest elimination."

"Really?" Sophia asked in an amused tone as she raised her eyebrow. "Let me guess, someone was in the middle of a duel when the session ended early yesterday?"

"Bang on the money, the duelist who came in second in the Scottish Nationals, Jenny McQuaid? Her duel against Guardian of the Throne Room got interrupted." Rachel nodded as the sounds of a Scottish Woman swearing loudly could be heard. "She was winning as well, then the guardian revealed his deck master ability and the fact that he was running an Exodia deck."

"Guardian of the Throne Room, what was that thing's Deck Master ability again?" Sophia wondered before bringing up the Deck Master selection screen and looking for the Duel Monster. "Ahh yes, once per turn draw one card for each monster with more than 2000 defense points you control, you cannot conduct your battle phase the turn you use this Deck Master Ability and you skip one draw phase for each card you draw." Sophia read the deck master ability out loud before frowning. "At most that would've given the Guardian five draws, no one's lucky enough to draw the five Exodia pieces all at once, not even the AI."

"True but he was also using the Classic Exodia Strategy." Rachel responded before frowning. "You ever read Yugi's autobiography?"

"It's the only one I do read regularly from that era, for one thing, it wasn't written by a ghost writer like Joey's or full of ego stroking like Kaiba's." Sophia nodded before it hit her. "The Guardian's strategy was similar to that unnamed Rare Hunter Yugi fought in his first Battle City Duel?"

"Yep, well, aside from the blatant cheating or using three copies of Exodia." Rachel nodded in response and Sophia chuckled. "Did they ever find out that guy's name?"

"Not even the other surviving Rare Hunters knew his name, based on the interviews he wasn't particularly well liked by the other members of the organization either and, well, we both know that they were largely scumbags." Sophia shrugged her shoulders in response before sighing. "Tell Jenny that she can remain on the island if she wishes but if she proves to be a problem then I will be forced to kick her off the island."

"Will do, but I doubt that'll be necessary, she has a good reputation among the pro-league duelists in Scotland and it's more likely a case of her being upset over how she was eliminated." Rachel responded as she shook her head. "As for the other thing, Theresa's party has stumbled upon the cabin."

"I didn't think anyone would find that place until the finals." Sophia responded with a frown as she glanced at the cabin's picture. "That's meant to be an end game area, I take it your taking steps to avoid four players being eliminated at the same time, including Yugi Moto."

"Whilst I would love to watch the reaction from the dueling world to Yugi being eliminated early with a bag of popcorn in my hands, I have a job to do, they'll only encounter low level enemies and find a destiny orb." Rachel responded before she shook her head. "The main area will be blocked off for reasons they'll find out once they find it, assuming they don't leave the cabin immediately after their long rest of course."

"Keep me posted, I need a long rest as well." Sophia responded before leaving the HUD area. _"Though I will admit to wanting to see the look on Kaiba's face when he learns about Yugi being an early elimination."_

*back at the cabin*

By now the occupants in the cabin were either fast asleep in their rooms or getting ready to go to sleep, however there was one occupant that couldn't get any sleep.

"_I can't shake the feeling that this is too easy." _Marie thought as she sat at the edge of the bed still in her day clothes. _"Those bounty hunters were relentless, but they didn't follow us into the area with this cabin. There wasn't exactly much stopping them from setting fire to the building either, not saying that I wanted to burn alive off course." _Marie thought before hopping off the bed and glancing around the room, on the far wall there was a bookcase and despite the cabin being seemingly abandoned it was well stocked and the books looked to be in good condition.

Marie walked over to the bookcase for a closer look and looked it over, she was a short woman in real life and was used to not being able to reach up and grab things on high shelves, it was something she usually left to Marcus when they were out shopping, but being a gnome in game limited her reach even further than normal and she could only reach the first few shelves as a result.

And those shelves were all she needed for her to accidentally push the fake bookcase door open nearly falling down the steep staircase in the process. _"I knew this was too easy! Just my luck that I get the room with the secret entrance. I'd better wake up the others before I go down there!" _Marie thought before running out of her room, remembering that her room was next door to Theresa's she made that her first stop and entered opened the door without knocking. "Theresa I…..."

Marie barely had enough time to duck the incoming pillow from the topless Theresa. "Marie, do you mind?!" Theresa demanded as she hastily covered up her breasts, Marie quickly closed the door and Theresa put her top back on before letting Marie know that she was decent. "So, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?"

"As much as I'd like to say that, even in the game world, every female pro-leaguer has bigger breasts than me." Marie deadpanned before she passed Theresa back her pillow. "I had a feeling that this was too easy, and I couldn't get any sleep, usually I read something on my kindle to help me nod off, or in this case, one of the books from the surprisingly well kept bookcase."

"Let me guess, the old "fake door disguised as a bookcase" cliché?" Theresa asked and Marie nodded prompting Theresa to stand up. "I'll go wake up the others, but not before knocking first, wait for me outside your room."

"I'm never living that down for the rest of the tournament, am I?" Marie deadpanned and Theresa shook her head before Marie stood aside to let the taller woman past. "At least let me duel whatever's down there and claim that destiny orb if there is one? I haven't dueled since the World Championship Qualifiers and I got knocked out in the first round."

"You didn't have any practice duels against Marcus?" Theresa asked with a raised eyebrow and Marie shook her head.

"I did, but what I meant was that I haven't had any real duels, those practice ones were just that, practice." Marie responded before letting out an annoyed huff. "And because I'm a former Orichalcos Duelist, most game shops won't serve me, let alone let me participate in any duels, I usually have to order new cards from Amazon."

"You do know that you have no one to blame but yourself for that, right?" Theresa pointed out and Marie let out a deep breath.

"Why do you think I joined the Redemption Seekers in the first place?" Marie asked and Theresa paused. "Besides, we both know that's ancient history as far as the dueling world's concerned."

"True enough, see you in a bit." Theresa nodded before running off to fetch the others.

*a few minutes later*

Fortunately, unlike Theresa, Yugi and Tyler were in their night clothes and getting into bed respectively when Theresa interrupted them and once they had gotten dressed again, they met in Marie's room where they saw the steep staircase.

"I take it you didn't go down there before you want to fetch Theresa?" Tyler asked Marie who nodded in response as she glanced down at the staircase. "Can't tell how deep that goes down and it looks dark, anyone have Darkvision?"

"I'm a human so no." Yugi responded as he shook his head. "What about the girls?"

"I'm an Assamir, Marie's a Gnome." Theresa responded as she turned to the living legend. "So yeah, we do, think it's limited to something like twenty feet."

"I say we let the tank lead the way." Marie responded as she motioned to Theresa. "This is based on Dungeons and Dragons and it's typically the Paladins that are the tanks of the group, so it just makes the most sense to me."

"Sure, just don't fall down the stairs." Theresa responded before she led the party down the deep staircase, it took them about twenty minutes to reach the bottom and they found that it had led them to a cavern. "Just how deep are we?"

"I'm not sure, but I think it's safe to say that we are deeper than six feet." Tyler responded as he glanced back at the staircase. "I'm also beginning to think that your horror movie joke earlier is appropriate here Theresa."

"I was thinking that too." Theresa nodded in agreement as she glanced over at Tyler. "I mean yeah, Cabin in the Woods is more of a loving tribute to everything horror than anything else but there was still some horror elements, in any case we've come this far, we may as well see what's down here."

"Just remember that I called dibs on the duel and claiming the destiny orb." Marie asserted as they started following Theresa. "Assuming there is one down here."

"I doubt the game designers would go to this much effort and not put a duel and a destiny orb down here." Theresa assured her as they followed the cave system, however as they followed the path Theresa realized something. "This isn't natural."

"Theresa if we want to get technical, nothing in this world is natural." Tyler pointed out and Theresa shook her head as she turned to him.

"Not what I meant this doesn't seem like a cavern that formed naturally." Theresa responded as she motioned around her. "It's like someone dug it out and built the staircase we went down." Theresa elaborated and the others looked around.

"She's right." Yugi realized as he glanced around. "Could've been Dwarfs, they'd have the expertise." Yugi added and Marie shook her head.

"Duergar more likely." Marie responded earning a confused look from Yugi. "Underdark Dwarfs, really pale, white beards, really nasty bunch, if they did build this tunnel and that staircase then it's likely we'll run into a group of them further down."

"That doesn't explain the cabin." Tyler pointed out as he folded his arms. "Duergar live underground, why would they build that staircase and hide it behind the bookcase in your room."

"Maybe the game designers were just making this up as they went along like most DMs do," Theresa suggested with a shrug before motioning them to continue. "If we keep discussing this, it'll be morning before we find anything, and I doubt Marie's willing to try dueling anyone whilst sleep deprived."

"I did, once." Marie responded with a sheepish grin. "Stayed up all night watching gameplay videos on Twitch the night before a tournament last year, I got eliminated in the first round." Marie added and the others sweat-dropped. "And no, I don't want to do that again, even if it means sleeping in this cave instead of that comfy bed back in my room."

"We won't have to worry about that," Yugi responded and the others turned to him. "My level one feat was Magic Initiate and I took Dimension Door I can get us back to her room in an instant."

"Good, let's get going." Theresa added before leading the others away.

*an hour later*

The cavern went on for a while longer to the point where the party was starting to consider going back to the cabin and returning to the cavern in the morning, that is until they came across something they weren't expecting.

"A forcefield?" Marie asked as they stared at the forcefield blocking their path, it wasn't exactly hidden from view as it was bright purple in color and fortunately there was another path that would've led the group to the left but the fact that the path in front of them was blocked had made the group curious. "Anyone have Dispel Magic?"

"I do." Yugi chimed in before he stepped forward. "I can only cast it at 1st level though, if it's anything higher than that then it'll fail and likely be way out of our league."

"_Feels weird hearing that come out of Yugi Moto's mouth." _Theresa thought as she watched the legendary duelist cast the spell, however after a few seconds he collapsed to his knees whilst clutching his head in pain. "Are you okay Yugi?"

"I'm fine but that path is definitely a no go." Yugi assured her as he got back to his feet. "That's a ninth level spell, likely to keep low level players like ourselves from going down that path."

"So, we stumbled upon an end game area?" Marie asked and Yugi nodded as she glanced at the forcefield. "You'd think the designers would've hidden them better than just sticking it under a random cavern in the woods."

"It's more likely that the whole woods is an end game area and not just these caverns, might explain why the hunters didn't follow us." Theresa reasoned as she folded her arms. "If these woods contain high level monsters then I can't blame the bounty hunters for basically going "I'm not getting paid enough for this" and heading back to civilization." Theresa added before glancing at the other path. "Fortunately, we have another path we can explore, considering it's not blocked off by anything I'd say it's a safe bet that it's more our speed."

"Fine, and once we're done in here, we'll go back to the cabin, get a long rest and get the hell of here." Marie nodded in agreement before they ventured down the path.

*minutes later*

The second path was much shorter than the first path and at the end of it the party came upon a chamber that seemed to have been carved out of a mountain that was occupied by several robed figures, and in the middle was a destiny orb, behind them was a stone table with shackles at the top and bottom but that didn't have the party's attention.

"You guys see what I see, right?" Marie asked as she glanced at the Destiny Orb in the middle of the chamber and the others nodded, Marie did a quick headcount of the robed figures and frowned. "Twenty of them, and they are all facing the Destiny Orb, I'm not going to be able to sneak up and steal it without something changing."

"These are likely CR1 Enemies, I doubt they are that tough." Theresa assumed as she went for her sword, but Tyler stopped her.

"Let's listen in before we head into battle." Tyler told Theresa and she nodded before the party listened in.

"Oh Vecna, The Whispered One, hear our voice and grant our prayers." The figures chanted as two more robed figures entered the chamber via a hidden door dragging a half-naked Half Elven woman with them. "Accept our sacrifice at the midnight hour."

"Yeah, I don't think so." Theresa commented as the woman was strapped to the table and the leader raised a golden dagger, Theresa nodded towards Marie before she charged into the chamber and cut down the nearest robed figure with her sword.

"WHAT?! How did you…" The leader never finished his question before Marie fired two crossbow bolts into his throat killing him instantly, seconds later the rest of the party entered the chamber and drew their weapons.

"You fools, do you have any idea what you've done?!" One of the robed figures demanded as he prepared a spell.

"Saved an innocent woman's life as you were ready to sacrifice her to Vecna." Theresa answered as she pointed her sword to them. "Now, let us pass or else."

"You will all be fitting sacrifices to Vecna." The figure responded before Yugi cut him down and Tyler did likewise with another figure, realizing that they were outmatched the remaining figures fled the chamber and Marie grabbed the destiny orb without hesitation.

"Okay, let's free her and get the hell out of here." Marie declared as the ping rang out from their duel disks and Tyler went about freeing the woman. "I was hoping to get a duel in, but I'll still take a destiny orb."

"Oh, thank you!" The Half-Elf thanked Tyler as he helped her off the table. "I was captured whilst I was away from my village. They did terrible things to me before they were going to use me as a sacrifice."

"You can thank Marie." Tyler responded before motioning To Marie. "We wouldn't have found this cavern if it weren't for the entrance bring in her room in the cabin."

"Cabin? Yes, off course, that makes sense." The half elf nodded once she realized what Tyler meant, now that the party had a better look at, she they realized that she was a beautiful blonde half elf who looked to be the same height as Theresa (5ft 7). "My clothes are in the room they dragged me from, you will be safer in my village than the cabin, but it isn't far."

"I can use Dimension Door to get us back to the cabin." Yugi responded and the Half-Elf turned to him. "Can you get us back to your village from there Ms.?"

"My name is Keyleth and yes, I know it well." Keyleth responded with a nod before she led them away. "We had better hurry before the higher ups in the cult are alerted."

"_If they are the ones blocked off by the forcefield then that sounds like a good idea." _Theresa thought as Keyleth opened the door, once she found her clothes the party turned away to give her some privacy. "Just one last thing, Marie was hoping to get a duel in tonight."

"There are duelists in my village, I'm sure they will be adequate competition for your companion." Keyleth assured her as she put her top on and Marie grinned. "Let's get going."

"Let's." Marie nodded in agreement before Yugi cast Dimension Door. "_Hopefully I won't lose my first duel of the tournament after all this build up."_


	27. Six Feet Under

Once the party had teleported back to the cabin via Dimension Door Keyleth had allowed the party to get a long rest knowing that it would take a couple of hours for them to reach her village but not before making sure that the entrance to the cavern was blocked off, once the party had rested up they made their way out of the forest and to a rural village about twenty minutes away from the forest.

Once they were in the village Keyleth was greeted by someone who they could only assume was a family member. "Keyleth, I'm so glad your safe." The human woman greeted her as she hugged Keyleth. "And all thanks to you." She added as she turned to the party.

"It was mostly dumb luck we wouldn't have found the cavern if I hadn't decided to look for some midnight reading material." Marie responded with a shrug as the human woman walked over to her. "Either way, we can't stay here long, the only reason we were in that cabin to begin with was because bounty hunters chased us there."

"We are a warrior tribe, any bounty hunters who come here will have a bad time." Keyleth responded as she turned to Marie. "And from what I remember of last night, you wanted a duel right?"

"That's right, you said that there were duelists in the village?" Marie asked and Keyleth nodded before motioning to a makeshift arena of sorts. "You guys host tournaments in there?"

"On special occasions yes, sometimes duels, other times with swords." Keyleth nodded as she turned to the arena. "The tournaments are usually saved for those who are wanting to win a maiden's hand in marriage, my turn is coming up soon."

"Don't expect me to sign up for that." Marie responded as a sweat-drop rolled down her head. "I'm already taken."

"All the spots are taken up anyway." Keyleth responded as she shook her head before noticing the look on Theresa's face. "I realize that this seems unusual, but I have several suitors, being a warrior culture, it is customary for any potential suitors to earn that right first."

"_And they say chivalry is dead." _Theresa thought as she glanced towards the arena. "Quick question, if your village is a warrior culture, how did those cultists capture you?"

"I was hunting in the forests near that lodge when they ambushed me, killed a couple of them before they overwhelmed me." Keyleth responded as she shook her head. "I didn't find out that they were Vecna cultists until I woke up as their captive, now I believe one of you was looking for a duel but wasn't interested in a duel?"

"Marie might not be interested in the tournament, but she is interested in a duel, how quickly can you find an opponent for her?" Theresa asked with a nod and Keyleth motioned for them to follow her.

"It won't take long at all, follow me." Keyleth responded before leading the party to the arena.

*elsewhere in the world*

By now Brandon's party was further into the Underdark and where following the Drow Scout Party from a safe distance, that is until they reached a cave with a familiar orb in it.

"A destiny orb?" Brandon asked as he eyed the orb before frowning. "No way this is going to be that easy, Theresa told me that her party's first orb was an easy one and even then, they had a bounty put on their heads for it."

"Do you think Sophia would mind if we cashed in on that bounty?" Caitlin asked earning a funny look from her teammates. "What? It's a tournament isn't it?"

"Maybe, but that party also features Tyler's sister and Marcus's girlfriend alongside Yugi Moto himself." Brandon responded and a massive sweat-drop rolled down her head as Caitlin processed the last bit of information. "Your good Caitlin but I think Yugi might be a bit out of your league."

"If it was anyone else, I'd argue so much that we'd alert the party." Caitlin responded as she motioned to the Scout Party, "But this is Yugi Moto we're talking about, the same guy who put away the original Orichalcos threat that I had so much trouble with during its resurgence." Caitlin added before quickly shaking her head. "I think I'd rather take my chances with whatever's leading this Drow group."

"That's probably wise." Miranda nodded in agreement before glancing up at the party. "Besides that, whether we think this is too easy or not, we had better deal with them and grab the orb, me, Brandon and Marcus dueled the Gate Guardian earlier…..."

"And that's something I don't want to revisit ever again." Brandon groaned as he ran a hand down his face. "Seriously, what was Pegasus thinking when he made that game style?"

"I don't know but it likely involved enough wine to fill five wineries and still have some left over." Miranda responded with a chuckle before shaking her head. "As I was saying, Caitlin if you want to duel next, be my guest."

"Thanks, still not sure what Deck Master I'll go with though." Caitlin admitted as she scratched her head. "Haven't really had a chance to go through the database."

"You'll get a chance, but we'd better get moving, those guys are on the move." Marcus chimed in and the party looked up to see the Drow on the move before following them.

*later*

The scouting party went further into the Underdark unaware that Brandon's party was following them, after a few minutes the scouts stopped to talk.

"Anyone here know Undercommon?" Caitlin asked as she scratched her head as the party struggled to understand what the scouts were saying, they shook their heads and Caitlin sighed. "Maybe I should've gone with Drow for my race instead."

"It's not that bad, we're near our destination." Brandon responded with a nod as he got an idea. "Let's jump them and take their destiny orb."

"Good idea." Miranda nodded before they started to sneak up to the scouts, the stealth check prompt popped up and each party member did a roll.

Unfortunately for the party, Brandon rolled a natural one. "What was that?!" The leader of the scout party demanded as Brandon loudly face-planted in front of the scout party and they span around. "Surface dwellers, you don't belong down here!"

"Yeah, well, unfortunately for you our boss hired us to deal with you and your matriarch." Brandon responded as he got back to his feet and the Drow scoffed. "So, if you'll just give us the destiny orb, we'll be on our way!"

"Don't count on it Tiefling." The leader responded before glancing at the rest of the party. "And for that matter, how did you get past the Gate Guardian?"

"All I'm saying is that that duel was the most boring and tedious duel I've ever taken part in." Brandon responded as a sweat-drop rolled down his head. "Why don't we cut to the chase? Our friend Caitlin is looking for a duel so how about she duels you for the destiny orb?"

"Fine, I could use a laugh." The drow leader responded before he brushed passed Brandon and Caitlin stepped forward. "Sending a woman to fight your battles is a sign of weakness."

"Correct me if I'm wrong but isn't your society a matriarchal one?" Caitlin pointed out and the leader frowned. "I don't think your matriarch will be happy to hear you say that."

"She'll know that I was referring to surface dwelling women." The Drow leader responded before the deck master selection screen appeared before them. "My deck master is Nuvia the Wicked!" The Drow announced as the strange fiend appeared on the field (4/2000/800).

"My deck master is Zombra the Dark!" Caitlin announced as the superhero in dark armor and a red cape appeared on the field (4/2100/500). "You realize that your deck master will destroy itself if you summon it right?"

"Summoning a deck master counts as a Special Summon." The leader corrected her as he folded his arms. "Even so I have no intention of summoning Nuvia, now as you said my society is a matriarchal one, so you'll go first!"

"Gladly!" Caitlin responded as they drew their opening hands and said looked over hers. "I start by activating Terra-Forming! I use this to add a Field Spell from my deck to my hand." Caitlin explained before she started inputting commands into her duel disk, once the card she wanted was ejected from the deck she added it to her hand and let her deck auto-shuffle. "I won't keep you in suspense, I activate Skyscraper 3: Fusion Metropolis."

"A fusion deck?" The leader scoffed as the scenery around them changed to a large city within the Fusion Gate. "What good would that do you?"

"Right now? That much, that's why I'm summoning Elemental Herp – Blaze Kid!" Caitlin announced as she played a card and a teenaged superhero in a similar costume to Elemental Hero Burstimitrix appeared on the field ready for action (3/1000/500).

"What a pathetic monster, on my turn I will crush him!" The leader responded as he clenched his fist to emphasize his point and Caitlin frowned in response. "Now finish your move!"

"I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Caitlin announced as she set the cards and the leader drew his card. _"Not the first time my heroes have been underestimated, hell they were underestimated a lot during Jaden Yuki's time in duel academy." _Caitlin thought before smirking. _"But with the new HERO support cards in my deck he'll be in for a nasty surprise if he thinks that I'll be defeated that easily."_

"I draw!" The leader announced as he drew his card. "And I activate Allure of Darkness! This card…."

"Allows you to draw two cards in exchange for banishing a dark type monster." Brandon interrupted him and both the leader and Caitlin turned to him. "I run a chaos deck and I'd be stupid to not include Allure of Darkness in the dark half of my deck."

"True, in any case, I draw again." The leader responded before he drew two cards and pocketed a third. "I set a card in defense mode and two cards facedown." The leader announced as his three cards appeared on the field. "And it's your move." The leader announced and Caitlin drew her card.

"_He calls my monster weak when he's opening by playing defensively?" _Caitlin thought as she added the card to her hand. _"Then again, it's not like the early Elemental Heroes were powerhouses! Sparkman was the strongest of the normal monsters in terms of raw power but even then, there were older monster cards that he would be destroyed by without help." _Caitlin thought before looking over her hand and grinning. "I activate Reinforcement of the Army! With this I can add one Level Four or lower Warrior type monster from my deck to my hand!"

"Add all the cards you want! They won't help you!" The leader scoffed as Caitlin searched through her deck and added the card to her hand.

"Are you sure about that?" Caitlin asked rhetorically as she sent her Spell Card to the graveyard. "I activate Skyscraper 3's effect! Once per turn I can Fusion Summon one Hero fusion monster from my Extra Deck by banishing it's components in my hand and on the field." Caitlin added before grinning. "Oh, and one more thing, when he is used in a Fusion Summon Blaze Kid counts as Burstimitrix, so I fuse him and Elemental Hero Avian together!"

"What?!" The leader demanded as the hero in green briefly appeared on the field (3/1000/1000) before fusing together with Blaze Kid. "What sense does that make?!"

"You ever heard of the concept of a sidekick?" Caitlin asked as she retrieved the card from her extra deck. "Don't answer that, Blaze Kid is Burstimitrix's sidekick and is a valued partner! Especially when he's being used to summon Elemental Hero Flame Wingman!" Caitlin announced as she played the card and the tall, muscular winged humanoid that was red and green in color appeared on the field (6/2100/1200). "For starters, with Skyscraper 3 on the field all Hero fusion monsters gain five hundred extra attack points." Caitlin added as Flame Wingman's attack went up to 2600. "And since Blaze Kid was used to fusion summon Flame Wingman, I get to draw a card."

"I'm still not impressed." The leader responded as he rolled his eyes whilst Caitlin drew her card.

"I don't remember asking for your opinion on my monsters, and just for that I'll activate my Deck Master's ability! Hero Call!" Caitlin announced as Zombra the Dark let out a roar. "In exchange for this, Flame Wingman is the only monster I can attack with for the rest of the turn which is a moot point since he's the only monster on my side of the field but in exchange? Well as he's a hero monster he can inflict piercing damage since I control a Skyscraper card!"

"What?!" The leader asked as his eyes widened and Flame Wingman glowed.

"Are you impressed yet? Because this is a prime example of you putting your foot in your mouth!" Caitlin responded before she pointed at the leader's defense monster. "Flame Wingman, attack his defense monster!" Caitlin commanded and the humanoid flew forward before the monster was revealed to be Mystic Tomato (4/1400/1100) which was quickly incinerated bringing the leader's life-points down to 6500. "And that's not all! Since Flame Wingman destroyed your monster that monster's attack points come out of your life-points!"

"You will pay for this!" The leader growled as the flames hit him bringing his life-points down to 5100. "My tomato has an effect of his own allowing me to Special Summon one Dark Type Monster with fifteen hundred attack points or less from my deck! But not before I activate my Trap Card Flat Level 4!" The leader announced as his facedown card flipped up. "As a monster I control was just destroyed by battle this Trap Card allows us to summon a level four monster from our decks."

"Awfully generous of you." Caitlin commented before they started searching through their decks. "I chose to summon Commissioner Morgan." Caitlin announced as she played a card and a tall police detective appeared on the field (4/1500/1200). "Fortunately for you, I can't attack again thanks to my deck master's ability."

"It won't matter soon! I will let the cards I summon speak for themselves!" The leader responded before, to everyone's surprise, an infamous pair of arms appeared on the field (1/200/300) each.

"The left and right arms of Exodia?!" Caitlin asked once she did a double take. "Why would you summon those things?!"

"I have my reasons, now finish your move." The leader responded and Caitlin frowned.

"_I doubt he plans to summon Exodia Necross, that monster is powerful but it's really situational, not to mention as slow as a race between a turtle and a snail." _Caitlin thought as their decks auto-shuffled. _"Maybe Backup Soldier's his plan? If it is then I could blow it out of the water with either Mystical Space Typhoon, Seven Tools of the Bandit or Trap Jammer, either way I'd better be prepared for anything." _Caitlin thought before going over her hand. "It's your move."

"About time!" The leader responded before drawing his card, he didn't even look at it before activating his remaining facedown card. "I activate Dark Spirit Art – Greed! Unless you have a spell card to reveal in your hand, I will sacrifice the Left Arm of the Forbidden One to draw two cards from my deck."

"I only had two Spell Cards in my hand to start with and your looking at one of them." Caitlin responded as she motioned to the city around them and the leader nodded before the arm vanished and he drew two cards. _"Though that does raise more questions about his strategy!"_

"I summon my Deck Master!" The leader announced and the others did double takes as Nuvia moved to the field. "As you pointed out earlier, if this was a normal summon, she would be destroyed but as summoning your deck master counts as a Special Summon my deck master is safe."

"For now." Caitlin responded as she shook her head. "Or did you forget about the other part of her effect? The one that means she's about to lose four hundred attack points?" Caitlin added as Nuvia's attack points dropped to 1600. "If your planning to destroy Morgan, then that's gotta be the dumbest move I've ever seen in my career as a duelist!"

"Who said that was my plan? I activate Swords of Revealing Light and Nightmare's Steel Cage!" The leader announced as he played the Spell Cards and the golden swords rained down before the hellish cage surrounded Caitlin. "Five turns, I have you imprisoned for that long!"

"And?" Caitlin asked as she folded her arms. "You have one Exodia piece in your graveyard, unless your running three copies of each piece, which comes with its own problems, you'll never get the pieces into your hand!"

"That's where my Deck Master Ability comes in! Once per turn by sacrificing one weak Dark Type Monster I can take one Dark Type Monster from my graveyard and put it on top of my deck." The leader explained as Right Arm of the Forbidden One vanished from the field and Left Arm was put on top of the leader's deck. "My plan is foolproof!"

"Is it?" Caitlin asked with a raised eyebrow. "Heavy Storm might be banned but I can easily destroy these Spell Cards through other means and by then your Deck Master will be the ugliest sitting duck ever!"

"We'll see about that! I end my turn." The leader announced and Caitlin drew her card.

"I activate Reckless Greed! I skip my next two draw phases to draw that many cards." Caitlin announced as her facedown card flipped up and she drew her cards. "Next I activate Commissioner Morgan's effect I sacrifice him to add an Elemental Hero to my hand." Caitlin added before her monster vanished and she started searching through her deck. "Once I'm done it'll be your turn." Caitlin added and the leader nodded before drawing his card just as Caitlin's deck auto-shuffled.

"I pass my turn." The leader announced and Caitlin skipped her draw phase. "And just so you know, I have four Exodia parts in my hand."

"I had better end this quickly then." Caitlin responded before going over her hand. "To be honest, I have everything I need to end this now, all thanks to Commissioner Morgan."

"What do you mean?!" The leader asked as Caitlin picked up the card.

"I'll show you! I summon Elemental Hero Tornado Force!" Caitlin announced as she played the card and a man in a similar costume to Elemental Herp Avian's appeared on the field ready for battle (4/1900/1200). "I couldn't summon him last turn because Morgan's effect states that I can't summon a monster the same turn I use his effect but when Tornado Force is summoned whilst a card with Skyscraper in its name is on the field, he destroys all cards my opponent controls!"

"No!" The leader yelled out as a tornado washed over the field being generated by Tornado Force destroying all of his monsters including Nuvia. "We will meet again!" The leader added as the holograms disappeared before he ran off with the rest of his party.

"Should we go after him?" Caitlin asked as she looked up in their direction. "They are just going to alert the matriarch!"

"I don't think the Matriarch will be that thrilled when he mentions how he practically defeated himself." Brandon responded before motioning to the bag containing the destiny orb. "But until then we have a destiny orb to claim."

"Right." Caitlin nodded as the ping to indicate that a boss had been defeated before she grabbed the bag and the destiny orb, once they got the extra XP another ping rang out. "Hey! We leveled up!"

"I was wondering when that would happen." Brandon nodded with a grin before motioning to the direction the party had ran off in. "In the meantime, we had better keep up with them." Brandon added and the others nodded before they walked off.


	28. War for Territory

Whilst Caitlin's duel against the leader of the scout party was well underway Marie was hard at work in the arena, but more importantly was winning all of her matches leaving only the champion left to face her.

"How did a little tyke like you last this long?!" The champion scoffed as he stood across the arena from Marie, Marie's deck master was Blackland Fire Dragon (4/1500/800) which she had used consistently throughout the tournament and the only monster on her side of the field was Red-Eyes Wyvern (4/1800/1600) as well as a facedown card. "I'll soon prove to you that might makes right in this arena and you'll regret ever entering the arena."

"Try saying something I didn't hear from all of my other opponents." Marie responded with a bored expression on her face, the champion's deck master was King of Yamimakai (5/2000/1530) as he had gotten the first choice due to being the defending champion and on his side of the field was Virgil, Rockstar of the Burning Abyss (6/2500/1000) as he was running a burning abyss deck and a facedown card of his own. "Besides, I've beaten all the other monsters in the Burning Abyss archetype up to this point what makes you think that this Rockstar will make any difference?"

"I'll show you, Virgil, attack her Wyvern!" The champion commanded and Virgil struck a chord on his guitar sending a shockwave towards Red-Eyes Wyvern destroying it and bringing Marie's life-points down to 800 compared to his 1100. "One attack is all I need!"

"If you get that far, I activate Damage Condenser! Since I just took damage, all I need to do is discard one card from my hand." Marie announced as she discarded a card. "And this lets me Special Summon a monster from my deck with attack less than or equal to the damage I just took! Granted three hundred points of damage doesn't leave me with many options but the Black Stone of Legend will do just fine!" Marie added as she played the card and the small black stone appeared on the field (1/0/0). "Don't get to excited, it's in defense mode."

"Won't matter if that's all you have to offer." The champion scoffed and Marie grinned.

"That's where your wrong! I activate Black Stone of Legend's effect! I tribute this monster to summon a Level Seven or lower Red-Eyes Monster from my deck that isn't Red-Eyes Black Chick!" Marie announced as the stone vanished from the field and a familiar roar echoed throughout the village. "So why not go with the classic?" Marie asked as the Red-Eyes Black Dragon appeared on the field with a roar (7/2400/2100).

"I end my turn, but your overgrown lizard doesn't scare me, besides, my deck master's effect will destroy any Dark Type Monster on your side of the field that was Special Summoned as soon as it's attack resolves" The champion announced and Marie said nothing as she drew her card.

"_Perfect!" _Marie thought before retrieving a card from her graveyard. "I activate the second effect of Black Stone of Legend from my graveyard, with it I can shuffle a Red-Eyes monster from my graveyard back into my deck and add it to my hand." Marie added as she put the dragon back in her deck and let it auto-shuffle before adding the other card to her hand. "Next I activate Summoner's Art! I used this earlier in the duel but for a reminder, this allows me to add one Level Five or higher Normal Type Monster to my hand." Marie added as she started inputting commands into her duel disk.

"How many times has she shuffled her deck since the champion's last attack?" Yugi wondered outloud as a large sweat-drop rolled down his head and Theresa shook her head.

"She was my opponent in the semi-finals of the World Championship Qualifiers in New York a few weeks ago." Theresa responded as she turned to the legendary duelist. "This has actually been fairly tame for her deck."

"And now for the Grand Finale! First, I activate my Deck Master's ability! This allows me to reduce the level of one Dark Type Dragon Monster in hand by one in exchange for reducing his level by the same number." Marie announced as Blackland Fire Dragon's level dropped to three. "Now I activate Red-Eyes Fusion! I fuse the Red-Eyes on my field with the level six red-eyes in my hand to fusion summon Meteor Black Comet Dragon!" Marie announced as the two dragons appeared on the field only to subsequently fuse together to form a much larger dragon that was seemingly engulfed by flame (8/3500/2000).

"That dragon doesn't scare me!" The champion said defiantly as he folded his arms. _"As soon as she attacks, my Mirror Force will destroy her dragon and leave her open to my finishing blow!"_

"He should because I can finish you off without an attack." Marie responded and the champion blinked in confusion. "When Meteor Black Comet Dragon is fusion summoned his effect activates, allowing me to send one Red-Eyes monster from my deck or hand to the graveyard and inflict half of it's attack as life-point damage to you, so I'll just send my third and final Red-Eyes Black Dragon to the graveyard from my deck and….." Marie trailed off as her dragon breathed fire on the champion destroying Virgil, the King and his facedown card in the process and reducing his life-points to zero.

"The winner of the match is Marie! She is the new champion!" The announcer called out and the crowd cheered as the now former champion sulked off.

"Not bad." A new female voice rang out from the stands and Marie looked up seeing a mixed race woman with short black hair and blue eyes dressed in standard fighter gear. "I was hoping to get a chance to duel him until you came along." She added as the young woman stepped out from the stands.

"Latoya Conley?" Tyler asked once he recognized the woman and Latoya grinned. "Last I heard from you was when you and Louella got married the other year."

"Yeah, first gay couple to graduate from Duel Academy and get married, honestly me and Louella were expecting Chelsea and Beth to beat us to the punch." Latoya responded with a grin before getting her guide out. "My quest is to help a party of adventurers on the run from a mob boss they stole a destiny orb from, guessing that's you guys?" Latoya asked and they nodded in response as Theresa and Yugi approached her. "And I'm in the same party as Yugi Moto, I would say Louella's going to be so jealous, but I wouldn't be surprised if she ended up in the same parry as Kaiba."

"Save the autographs for later." Yugi chuckled before nodding towards the guide. "We're happy to have you abord Latoya but I don't suppose you know what the next stop on our quest is, do you?"

"One way to find out." Latoya nodded before getting the guide out and checking it.

*back at the HUD*

Sophia was watching the exchange from the HUD area and was happy with how things were going, as the party discussed their next move she turned to Rachel.

"Just out of curiosity, what is Louella's assigned party?" Sophia asked and Rachel checked the database before laughing out loud. "Don't tell me she's actually joining Chelsea's party?"

"Yep, she is." Rachel nodded and Sophia shook her head with a laugh. "Just to recap, three straight men, two lesbians and a bisexual woman are in the same party."

"Don't know what's more fitting, a "walk into a bar" joke or "sounds like the set-up for a porn or sitcom" joke." Sophia chuckled as she shook her head. "Any other updates?"

"Three more eliminations, South Carolina's Regional Champ got eliminated after a duel against Beautiful Headhuntress, we saved her the indignity of having her last memory of the tournament being her head getting chopped off." Rachel responded as the woman's picture showed up on screen. "The other elimination was another tag team one, you remember the headlines last year where North Dakota decided to do it's regionals as a tag team tournament?"

"Hard to miss the controversy, the reigning champ was worried that he'd have to vacate the title until it was made clear that he could still defend it." Sophia nodded as she ran a hand down her face. "And then he ended up dropping the title to twin brothers who pledged to hold it simultaneously, I remember being called upon to make a decision because the local judges were so damn clueless as to what to do in that situation."

"It was an unprecedented situation to be fair." Rachel shrugged her shoulders before sighing. "In any case, the co-North Dakota champion were eliminated after a tag team duel against Jinzo and Machine King."

"Ah yes, one of the only original Deck Master abilities I changed in preparation for the tournament." Sophia nodded as she remembered the abilities. "The other one being the Blue-Eyes White Dragon's ability, which I changed due to the fact that Fusion Monsters have been able to attack the same turn that they were summoned for years and Jinzo's was changed because the original ability was far to close to Jinzo's effect for my liking."

"It was the changed effects that did them in actually, they had taken out all their Trap Cards because they thought they wouldn't need them." Rachel explained and Sophia shook her head in response. "Usual offer to stay on the island?"

"Off course." Sophia nodded before frowning. "Speaking of eliminations, has Jenny McQuaid been more troublesome since her elimination?"

"She's calmed down significantly so she shouldn't be a problem going forward." Rachel responded as she shook her heads and Sophia nodded in approval. "I'll keep you updated as the day progresses."

"See that you do, my party will be at its next destination in a few hours and I'll be surprised if there aren't more developments in that timeframe." Sophia nodded before walking off. _"Can't help but wonder how father would've dealt with a tournament like this when he was still in charge of I2, even without that demon messing with my plans." _Sophia thought with a sigh as she walk4ed off.

*elsewhere in the world*

Now that Kylie had been freed from the bandit camp under the control of the Dark Scorpions Chelsea's group was well on their way to their next destination.

"Okay, according to the guide we should be near the next Barbarian tribe." Chelsea commented as she read her guide before glancing over at the other party members. "And by near, I mean that it's a day's trip from here, and yes that's taking into account the fact that days in the virtual world are half as long as days in the real world."

"It's the mid afternoon so our best bet will be to stop for the night at some point and finish our journey in the morning." Kaiba nodded as he glanced up at the sky. "And that's if we don't encounter any more of the king's mercenaries."

"If they are as tough as the Dark Scorpions, they shouldn't be much trouble." Ray shrugged his shoulders in response before frowning. "But if I'm right we'll probably level up as soon as we get our next destiny orb which means tougher enemies."

"I don't care, I've been itching for a duel since the session started." Kylie responded with a slight grin on her face before the party heard the signs of a battle from a nearby clearing. "That doesn't sound like a regular duel."

"Unless we're not talking about an old fashioned duel to the death rather than a game of duel monsters, I agree." Chelsea nodded in agreement before she motioned for the party to follow her into the wooded area surrounding the clearing, just as Kylie and Chelsea had predicted there was a battle going on between two Barbarian tribes. "My quest says to reunite the tribes, I don't think these tribes are going to get along."

"We could always try to broker peace between them." Kylie suggested as they watched the battle though they couldn't tell which side was winning, or which side was which for that matter. "That would probably be a good start."

"If you ladies start singing "give peace a chance" I'll personally hand your decapitated heads over to the king." Kaiba responded as he ran a hand down his face. "Besides that, I can't even tell which side is which."

"I'm glad someone said it." Ray commented as he scratched his chin in thought, Chelsea moved closer to the edge of the clearing that get a better look and saw what appeared to be the commanders in the heat of combat with each other. "I would suggest trying to break up this battle but it's five adventurers against two armies of Barbarians, both sides have taken losses but even so, I don't like our chances in this encounter."

"I think our best bet will be to sit back and see what happens." Chelsea responded with a nod as she turned to the others. "See who wins and hope that they are cooperative." Chelsea added before turning her attention back to the battle. _"To think, teenage me would've been the first to jump into battle rather than wait it out, can't tell if that's because I've gotten more mature or boring with age." _Chelsea thought with a small grin as she watched the battle.

*two hours later*

As it turned out, the party had stumbled upon the battle right as it was winding down and whilst it was another two hours before the battle ended (in game time) one side emerged as the victor as the remaining members of the other side were either captured or killed.

"Another fine victory for me!" The leader of the victorious tribe, an absolute mountain of a man who towered over the male members of Chelsea's party and made Kylie and Chelsea look like small children by comparison, gloated as he stood before the defeated commander, a young human woman with blonde hair. "Now, what to do with you?"

"You could always let her, and the remaining tribesman go." Chelsea offered as she stepped into the clearing alongside the others, the victorious commander's men went for their swords, but the commander ordered them to stop. "Because what your doing is playing right into the king's hands!" Chelsea added and the commander scoffed.

"You're the one who's supposed to unite the tribes? I more muscle un my little finger than you do in your entire body." The commander responded and Chelsea's eyes narrowed, in real life Chelsea had taken to working out in between her duels and computer work which had left her arms quite toned, but nothing compared to the commander's. "Stand aside little girl! This is a real man's job!"

"Right, because it takes a real man to kill his enemies when they are down." Chelsea scoffed and the commander's eyes narrowed. "By the way? That wasn't a suggestion, either you stop this pointless war or…..."

"Or what?!" The leader asked before pulling out an absolutely massive greatsword and holding it to Chelsea's head. "Do you know how easy it would be to send your decapitated head flying over the horizon?"

"_I would make a compensating for something joke but I think that would result in me rolling up a new character." _Chelsea thought as she glanced down at the sword, it was then that she noticed the duel disk on the commander's wrist and got an idea. "How's this for an idea, you duel one of my companions, they win, and I'll see to it that you broker a peace treaty with the other tribe, if you win…" Chelsea's sentence got cut off by leader exclaiming.

"WHEN I win, I will decapitate all four of you personally, one by one!" The leader boastfully exclaimed, and Chelsea frowned. "Now, who's going to be the first lamb to the slaughter?"

"I am." Kylie responded as she stepped forward. "But first, lower your blade from my girlfriend's neck before I cut it off and beat you to death with it." Kylie warned the commander and he backed off.

"_Wait, what?!" _Chelsea thought as she processed what Kylie had said before she turned to her ex. "Kylie?!"

"We'll talk about it after the duel." Kylie assured her ex after seeing the look on her face before she turned her attention to the commander. "I'm ready when you are big guy!"

"Very well!" The commander responded as they activated their duel disks and drew their opening hands, seconds later the Deck Master Selection Screen showed up in front of both players and they went through it. "My deck master is Vorse Raiser!" The commander announced as the hideous halberd wielding Beast Warrior appeared next to him (4/1900/1200),

"_Level four or lower, how generous of him." _Kylie thought as she went through her selection before making her choice. "My deck master is Barron of the Fiend Sword!" Kylie announced as a portly fiend in a three piece suit appeared on the field wielding a red sword (4/1550/800). "He doesn't look like much but then again, neither do you!"

"You'll pay for that comment! I'm going first!" The commander snarled as he went over his hand before picking up three cards. "I set two cards facedown and I summon Berserker Warrior – Bear!" The commander announced as he played the cards and a male barbarian wearing the skin of a brown bear appeared on the field with an animalistic roar (4/2000/1200). "When he is normal summoned, he can't attack the same turn."

"A moot point since it's your first turn." Kylie pointed out with an unimpressed look on her face. "Is there a point to this?"

"I was getting to his second effect! if I control no other monsters when I summon him, I can Special Summon Berserker Warrior – Wolf to the field from my deck or hand!" The commander added as another Berserker, this time in wolf pelt, appeared on the field (4/1800/1200). "He can't attack either but good luck getting past that! It's your move!"

"I draw!" Kylie responded as she drew her card and added it to her hand. _"Two monsters with high attack power for Level Four Monsters and two facedown cards, if this isn't an obvious trap then I'm a nun!" _Kylie thought before playing a card. "I activate Allure of Darkness! I draw two cards, but I have to banish one Dark Type Monster from my hand in exchange, otherwise I'll lose my entire hand." Kylie announced as she played the card before drawing two cards and pocketing a third. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn!"

"That's it?" The commander asked and Kylie shook her head.

"Not quite." Kylie responded as a small, circular space craft appeared on the field (3/800/1200). "Meet D.D. Scout Plane! If I banish this monster, he gets Special Summoned during my end phase!"

"_Is she copying Brandon's deck? Because I can't count the number of times, he's used that combo over the years." _Chelsea thought before shaking her head. _"Brandon's hardly the only duelist who uses Allure of Darkness, especially not in combination with D.D. Scout Plane, it just means that she's using a dark type deck."_

"_Does it bother you?" _Wattchimera asked as he appeared next to Chelsea. _"That your ex uses a dark type deck whilst you use a light type deck?"_

"_No, if anything Kylie calling me her girlfriend when we haven't dated since we were fifteen and sixteen respectively bothers me more." _Chelsea admitted with a shrug. _"But I'm sure that was just a spur of the moment thing."_

"Is that all you've got? Too bad!" The commander responded as he drew his card. "I attack your puny plane with Bear!" The commander commanded and the bear warrior charged into battle…...

"I activate my trap card Dark Spirit Art – Greed!" Kylie announced as her facedown card flipped up and D.D. Scout Plane disappeared from the field. "Unless you have a spell card in your hand to show me, I'm about to draw two cards."

"Draw your cards." The commander sneered and Kylie drew her cards. "It won't help you because now your wide open! Bear, Wolf, attack her directly!" The commander commanded and the two warriors charged into battle…...

"Nice try but Battle Fader has something to say about that!" Kylie announced as the small clock like fiend appeared on the field blocking their paths (1/0/0). "Since you declared a direct attack, I can Special Summon Battle Fader straight to the field to negate it!"

"That won't save you for long! I activate my trap card Forrest Ambush!" The commander announced as the trap card flipped up depicting the famous "battle" of Teutoburg Forrest albeit with several warrior type monsters in the place of the Roman Legions. "Since my attack was negated this will destroy your Battle Fader and let me conduct another Battle Phase!"

"_I'm going to feel this in the morning." _Kylie thought with a wince as Battle Fader vanished from the field.

"Bear, Wolf, finish what you started!" The Commander commanded and the two warriors charged into battle before slashing Kylie with their swords twice and bringing her life-points down to 4800. "This won't take long! And when my Berserkers attack directly, they get a boost of five hundred attack points from my deck master's Special Ability." The commander added as the two warriors' attack points went up to 2500 and 2300 respectively.

"In other words, you could finish me off next turn if I don't draw another monster." Kylie nodded before her other facedown card flipped up. "But it's not all bad news, because the damage you just inflicted allowed me to use Shock Draw giving me one draw for each thousand points of damage taken." Kylie added as she drew three cards.

"I end my turn." The commander announced and Kylie drew her card. "But face it, it's over and you've lost."

"Your wrong, whilst it is over, you are on the losing side." Kylie responded as her facedown card flipped up. "First I use Call of the Haunted to bring back D.D. Scout Plane." Kylie announced as the plane returned to the field and she drew her card. "Now I activate my Barron's Deck Master ability, I sacrifice D.D. Scout Plane to add three level one Normal Type Monsters to my hand from my deck."

"More cards for your hand?!" The commander scoffed as the plane disappeared from the field and Kylie added the cards to her hand. "How could that help you?"

"On their own, they can't." Kylie nodded before grinning broadly. "But by gathering all five pieces of Exodia the Forbidden One in my hand, I've won the duel."

"WHAT?!" The commander demanded as Kylie lay down the five pieces of Exodia. "This cannot be!"

"It is!" Kylie responded as the pentagram appeared on the field and Exodia pushed his way through. "Exodia, obliterate!" Kylie commanded and Exodia launched an energy beam at the commander destroying his monsters, his deck master and winning her the duel. "I think you have an end of the bargain to keep."

"You bitch, no one humiliates me like…." The commander never finished his sentence as more barbarians poured into the clearing. "Reinforcements! We have to go!" The commander commanded and he fled with his men.

"Thank you for the help but I knew help was on the way." The female commander thanked the party as she was helped to her feet. "You will find me more wiling to listen to your plans, winged one, follow me."

"Yeah, sure." Chelsea nodded before the party followed the female leader. _"But I still have a lot to talk to Kylie about, like since when was she using an Exodia deck? And the fact that she called me her girlfriend before the duel." _Chelsea thought before sighing. _"So much for this tournament being stress free!"_


	29. Castle Crashers

Following Kylie's duel against the Barbarian chief the party was escorted back to the defeated chieftain's village which ended up being an hour's walk from the clearing, however Chelsea had other things on her mind as they related to her ex-girlfriend.

"_Since when has Kylie ever ran an Exodia deck?" _Chelsea wondered as she glanced over at Kylie who was awaiting the party's second destiny orb which the chieftain had promised them. _"She ran a Dark Fiend deck back in the day sure, but she always stayed away from Exodia decks, hell she considered them to be no skill bullshit decks." _Chelsea thought as one of the tribesman brought over the destiny orb, the party had gotten the XP from Kylie beating the Chieftain during the walk to the village and when Kylie received the orb they got two more pings, one for the XP and the other for the level up.

"We thank you for your kind service to the tribe." The chieftain addressed the party breaking Chelsea's train of thought in the process as she turned to her. "Chelsea, if you want our allegiance against the king you have it."

"If only it was that easy against the other guy." Chelsea scoffed with a grin on her face and the chieftain nodded in agreement. _"And then there's Kylie calling me her girlfriend, part of me hopes that it was just a slip of the tongue on her part but still…." _Chelsea's thoughts trailed off as she glanced over at her ex.

"It is getting late and you are welcome to stay overnight in the village." The chieftain continued and Chelsea turned her attention back to her. "But come morning, we will need to prepare for battle once more, the rival chieftain will not take this defeat lying down and if you want to assist us against him, your help will be appreciated."

"We defeated this chieftain once and we'll do it again." Kaiba chimed in with a confident smirk on his face as he stepped forward. "And unlike my companion, I will finish the job!"

"_I don't know what's worse, Kaiba not even bothering to ask if he can have the next duel." _Chelsea thought as a massive sweat-drop rolled down her head. _"Or that I'm not surprised by that fact to say the least!"_

"If it comes to it, I look forward to seeing you in battle." The chieftain nodded in approval before motioning them to leave her tent. "Now if you excuse me, I have battle preparations to do, my men will show you to your tents." The chieftain added and the party left the chieftain's tent.

*later*

As luck would have it, Chelsea and Kylie's tents were right next to each other and after Chelsea found herself unable to get any sleep, she left the tent to get some fresh air.

"Couldn't get any sleep either?" Kylie's voice rang out and Chelsea glanced over at her ex as she walked up to the taller woman, Kylie had ditched her armor for more casual clothing, namely a black sleeveless shirt that left her midriff exposed and black trousers which didn't go unnoticed by Chelsea. "Don't know why, I slept like a baby last night."

"I can think of a few reasons." Chelsea sighed as she turned to her ex. "But first, what's with the change of wardrobe?"

"Oh, this? I can never get to sleep in my armor, so I brought some casual clothes from a village before those mercenaries captured me." Kylie admitted as she made herself comfortable. "Anything else on your mind?"

"How'd you guess?" Chelsea asked before taking a deep breath. "Ever since your duel against the chieftain I've had a couple of questions in mind for you and this seems like a good a time as any to ask them."

"Considering how busy we'll apparently be tomorrow I can't help but agree." Kylie nodded before she sat down on the grass and Chelsea joined her. "Fire away."

"I'll start with the less heavy one, ironically enough knowing my taste in music." Chelsea joked before shaking her head. "Since when did you run an Exodia deck? I thought you hated those?"

"And I still do, but you know me, I like to run multiple decks." Kylie responded as she shifted her weight. "Besides, this is a deck that I developed exclusively for this tournament. I figured "why waste time with low level enemies" so I developed a deck that could get Exodia out quickly, even researched my deck master for it in advance, and yes, that does take the level system into account." Kylie responded and Chelsea nodded once she got her reasoning. "And I think I know what your other question is."

"Was it that obvious?" Chelsea asked rhetorically before letting out a deep breath. "You called me your girlfriend back there, please tell me that was a slip of the tongue?"

"It was the elephant in the room Chels, it was bound to come up sooner or later." Kylie nodded before sighing. "And believe me, I wish it was a slip of the tongue, god knows how you loved my slip of the tongues back in the day."

"I'm not sure if that's meant to be a sexual innuendo or not." Chelsea responded with a slight laugh before it hit her like a ton of bricks. "What exactly are you saying?!"

"What I'm saying is that I spent the last nine years or so convincing myself that I was over how our relationship ended." Kylie sighed and Chelsea's frown deepened as it dawned on her. "But it was all a lie, truth is I never got over how our relationship ended."

"Are you fucking shitting me?!" Chelsea responded as she ran a hand down her face. "Why didn't you say anything sooner?!"

"Because I was trying to keep things professional between us, I already knew that things would be awkward enough for us with Ray in the party!" Kylie defended herself and Chelsea let out an annoyed grunt. "Look, if you want to change parties or me to change parties, I'd totally understand."

"No, we're in it for the long haul now." Chelsea responded as she shook her head before glancing up at her ex. "Does your current partner know?"

"I haven't told him directly, but I think he's always known." Kylie admitted as she took a deep breath. "It's just that, I tried telling my parents that we could totally make a long distance relationship work, especially after I helped you get out of the relationship with Dan, but they didn't want me dating someone with a criminal record, and before you ask, no they didn't care that you were let out for good behavior after a year." Kylie added as she nudged closer to her ex. "I showed them up the moment I moved out by dating a guy with a record."

"Really? Non-violent I hope?" Chelsea asked with a raised eyebrow as Kylie turned her body towards her ex.

"He was a convicted shoplifter, like you he never went back to jail after his one conviction." Kylie added before sighing. "That relationship ended badly as well but for a different reason, not one I'm interested in going into detail right now."

"If anyone knows about bad break ups, it's me, I'm practically the fucking queen of them!" Chelsea grunted in annoyance before she relaxed a bit. "If it helps, I had a hard time getting over how our relationship ended as well, especially because you helped me get out of the abusive relationship with Dan, but me and Beth are happy together."

"I don't doubt for a second that you are." Kylie added before leaning in closer to the point were the two women's faces were inches apart. "Even so, do you ever wonder what could've been between us?"

"Until I met Beth, that was practically all I could think about." Chelsea admitted before noticing how close Kylie was. "Are you coming on to me?"

"Why not? Just like old times, right?" Kylie asked and Chelsea frowned. "You must've been getting lonely since Beth's not in the tournament." Kylie added and Chelsea initially went to pull away from her ex but she had to admit that not only was she feeling especially lonely due to Beth not participating but looking into Kylie's eyes from such a short distance brought back plenty of happy memories from when the two women were dating.

Enough happy memories for Chelsea to grab her ex by her shirt and pull her in closer. "Just this once." Chelsea responded with a small grin before the two women kissed each other passionately, it didn't take long for their hands to go up and down their bodies until Chelsea stopped just as Kylie went to remove her crop top.

"What's the matter?" Kylie asked as Chelsea backed away a bit and she licked her lips. "Having second thoughts?" Kylie asked with a coy grin and Chelsea shook her head before kissing her again.

"Like hell, I forgot how good a kisser you are." Chelsea responded before she stood up and offered Kylie her hand, Kylie took it and her ex pulled her up into a tight embrace before they resumed having sex, at least long enough for Chelsea to und Kylie's bra through her clothes and for Kylie to take it off through the dip in her top's neckline.. "Just not out here." Chelsea responded leading her ex into her tent, once they were inside and Kylie had tossed her bra to the side, they resumed having sex and it wasn't long before Chelsea was on her back with Kylie on top. _"I hope I won't live to regret this when I get back home." _Chelsea thought as Kylie kissed her neck.

*back at the HUD*

By now Sophia's party was near their next destination but that didn't mean that Sophia didn't have to be updated on the current goings on in the tournament including what was going on between Kylie and Chelsea.

"I thought this was a Duel Monster's tournament, not a damn Soap Opera!" Sophia sighed as she watched the conversation between Kylie and Chelsea, when the two women started having sex Sophia's eyebrows shot up. "This is why you interrupted my beauty sleep?"

"Yep, funny how two women currently in relationships who aren't in a True Love storyline are having a better sex life than the two women who are." Rachel commented as she shook her head and Sophia frowned. "Something on your mind?"

"Plenty, but I'll start with the obvious one." Sophia responded as she watched the two women have sex. "Chelsea doesn't talk about it much in public, but she was straight at one point." Sophia added as she watched Chelsea lead Kylie into her tent. "And as she just alluded to, her last relationship with a man turned abusive, I only know this because she confronted that son of a bitch during the Orichalcos Saga."

"And now she's hooking up with the woman who not only got her out of that relationship but was her first lesbian lover." Rachel nodded as she got the idea. "If it anyone else I would've thought that it was kind of sweet."

"Except that they are both in relationships." Sophia nodded as she folded her arms. ""I will admit, they make a hot couple and even I noticed the sexual tension between them was so thick that you could cut it with a knife but Beth wasn't invited to the tournament because of her poor track record on the pro-leagues." Sophia explained as Rachel nodded. "And then there's the fact that she's accepted a teaching position at North Academy so even if she was invited, she would have had to decline, but that leaves Kylie's boyfriend, who happens to be a competitor in the tournament." Sophia added as she messaged her forehead in annoyance. "What do we know about Kylie's boyfriend?"

"His name's Raphael Starks and he's from Las Vegas, came in second during the Las Vegas regionals last month and they apparently met during Kylie's time at North Academy." Rachel responded as she loaded his picture up. "Runs a Lightsworm deck and he's in Claudio's party, just snagged his party's second destiny orb as a matter of fact."

"One would almost think that Kylie had something for people who run Light Attribute decks." Sophia chuckled before shaking her head. "Don't suppose there's an NPC that we can have interrupt Chelsea and Kylie before things get too wild?"

"Even if there was, it's too late for it now." Rachel responded as she shook her head. "They are both naked and having a passionate sex session, don't suppose you want to know what position they are in?"

"As attractive as both Chelsea and Kylie are, I'll pass." Sophia responded as she shook her head. "And I'm sure that they are both great in bed with other women considering how long Chelsea's been out of the closet as a lesbian and how many female lovers Kylie's had, Chelsea included, but right now, I'm more concerned with the potential PR fallout from this."

"They are both grown adults, maybe they'll talk it over with their respective partners." Rachel offered as a solution and Sophia frowned. "Besides, if what Kylie said about her relationship is true than Raphael shouldn't see a problem with it, if anything he'll probably be enquiring about footage of his girlfriend having sex with Chelsea."

"And if said footage does exist, I'm calling first dibs." Sophia said bluntly and Rachel face-faulted. "What? You think Chelsea's the only lonely woman on the island? I'm bi as well so I'd need something to keep me occupied."

"I'm just going to ignore that I heard that sentence come out of the mouth of the woman who signs my paychecks." Rachel deadpanned as she righted herself. "Shifting the topic just a bit but with Chelsea's party having grabbed their second orb that leaves only a few parties who are still at level one, including Chloe's party."

"With how the system was designed, that won't last long." Sophia responded as she shook her head. "I can only assume that Chloe's party isn't that far off from their first level up?"

"Literally one duel away." Rachel nodded in acknowledgement. "And they aren't far off from their next story point either."

"Good, let's shift focus to them, leave the other lovebirds alone for now." Sophia nodded as Rachel changed who the screen was showing.

"Just one question." Rachel chimed in and Sophia turned to her. "Chloe and Amanda, I can understand since they had no way of knowing that they would end up in the true love storyline together but why the interest in Chelsea and Kylie?"

"Aside from how hot they are and how hot their sex session will be? Concern for their careers mostly." Sophia admitted as she folded her arms. "Chelsea is already a controversial figure because she's open about her lesbian status and isn't afraid to speak her mind, Kylie is less open about the fact that she is bi but those who are close to her, literally in Chelsea's case, know that she came out as bi when she was sixteen." Sophia added before frowning. "And who is the game mostly targeted at?"

"Teenagers but there are kids who look up to these duelists." Rachel responded with a nod before it hit her. "And if these kids find out that two women, they look up to are cheating on their significant others with each other?"

"It would be a PR nightmare for them." Sophia nodded before her frown deepened. "Remember the revenge porn scandal that Amanda Croteau and Adrienne Beaumont got caught up in?"

"The one were their boyfriends got caught cheating on them and in revenge they leaked pictures and video of Amanda and Adrienne having sex with each other to several websites." Rachel nodded with a look of disgust on her face. "I know the boyfriends got blacklisted but I'm still unclear on why that was bad for Amanda and Adrienne, aside from the obvious breach of privacy and trust off course."

"It ties into what we were just talking about." Sophia responded as she shook her head. "Amanda's status as a bi-sexual woman had been something of an open secret in Canada's National Scene for a few years by that point, Adrienne less so as she was dating a woman before she hooked up with Jacques." Sophia added as she took a deep breath. "The reason the scandal nearly destroyed their careers was because people initially assumed that they were cheating on their boyfriends with each other, it took Adrienne and Amanda going on TV together and admitting that they had been friends with benefits for a few years by that point to squash that rumor."

"Wasn't Adrienne still the French National Champion at the point?" Rachel asked and Sophia nodded. "I think I read somewhere that people blame Adrienne losing the title on that scandal."

"Most of that blame came from her fans who refused to accept the truth, the other French National Duelists had learned the weaknesses of her deck." Sophia responded as she shook her head. "It was thanks to that interview that Amanda and Adrienne came out of that scandal with their reputations intact for the most part, however Chelsea and Kylie are still regional level duelists and I don't think their careers would survive a similar scandal."

"Do you want to chat with them after the session?" Rachel asked and Sophia shook her head.

"This isn't something that directly affects the tournament, just their personal lives." Sophia responded as she took a deep breath. "I say let them talk it out with their spouses in their own time, the session's almost over anyway." Sophia added before glancing up at the screen. _"Who'd have thought that the idea of celebrating the 40__th__ anniversary of Duelist Kingdom would lead to me potentially playing homewrecker for four different couples? At this rate I'm half tempted to start my own version of the Jerry Springer Show!" _Sophia thought before shaking her head. _"My dad may have done some questionable things during the original tournament but at least he never messed with people's personal lives!"_

*back with Chloe's group*

As that was going on Chloe's party had stopped outside a castle for the night, however before they could even leave their wagon, they could sense that something was wrong in the air.

"Don't tell me this is a repeat of the last castle we visited." Chloe commented as she pushed her way to the front of the group, they were in the castle courtyard but there were bodies everywhere and the dead that they could see looked recently deceased. "Maybe Ravencraw isn't far away?"

"I don't think we could take Ravencraw at our current level." Amanda responded as she walked up to Chloe. "However, Ravencraw has a younger brother who is arguably just as nasty but more on our level, he goes by the name Ravenscar."

"Oh joy, as if one guy with Raven in his name wasn't bad enough." Chloe commented not noticing that the dead were glowing with a sickly green energy. "What do we know about him?"

"He's a Necromancer with dreams of becoming a lich." Amanda responded before her eyes widened as she saw the dead rising in front of them. "And I think that confirms it." Amanda added and Chloe looked up seeing several dozen zombies blocking their path to the castle.

"If we can get to this Ravenscar guy, we can get to his brother." Jason nodded as he and the others got ready for battle. "Let's go!" Jason added and the others nodded before charging into battle.

*an hour later and back with Chelsea*

Her sex with Kylie had ended about twenty minutes ago and right now Chelsea was being spooned by Kylie as the two women lay naked asleep in Chelsea's tent, however Chelsea started waking up sooner than expected and let out a yawn.

"_I had a weird dream, that I was having sex with Kylie." _Chelsea thought with a yawn before instinctively reaching for her alarm clock. _"Right, right, I'm still in the virtual world, god, what time is…..." _Chelsea's thoughts trailed off as she realized that Kylie was spooning her and she looked down at her naked body and saw her clothes strewn about the tent, once she saw Kylie's clothes she came to her senses. "FUCK!" She yelled out waking up her partner.

"That's a first." Kylie commented as she kissed Chelsea on the neck and Chelsea pulled away from her. "Never been woken up after sex by my partner yelling fuck," Kylie added whilst remaining on her side and resting her head on her right hand whilst drumming the fingers on her left hand against her thigh, Chelsea could clearly see her ex's exposed breasts from that position as Kylie was making no attempt to cover up but she had to stop herself from staring at her ex's breasts before she got back on track.

"Don't take it as an indication that I want to go for round two." Chelsea said bluntly as backed away from Kylie who gave her ex a confused look. "I just fucked up big time!"

"Huh?" Kylie asked before it hit her. "Oh, you're not in an open relationship with Beth?"

"You're kidding, right? Me being in a lesbian relationship with her when I was still a Christian was taboo enough." Chelsea responded as she got into a fetal position. "But an open relationship was too much for her even though I suggested it jokingly back when we were Osiris Red Students." Chelsea added before running a hand down her face. "And now I've gone and cheated on her with my ex! How the hell am I supposed to explain this?!"

"You could just pretend it never happened." Kylie suggested and Chelsea shook her head. "Or say it was our characters that slept together."

"Yeah right, literally the only differences between the real me and my character is the fact that my character has wings and no piercings." Chelsea responded before letting out a deep breath. "And before you ask, I have no intention of leaving Beth for you Kylie, far as I'm concerned this was a onetime thing."

"I wasn't going to ask but that's fine, I mean you said as much before we started kissing." Kylie nodded in understanding before letting out a deep breath. "You want my advice? As soon as the session ends, call Beth and just be brutally honest about what happened between us, maybe don't go into graphic detail but some honesty might go a long way."

"Did you forget who you're talking too? I can count the number of times I haven't been brutally honest with anyone on one hand." Chelsea added as she held up two fingers to illustrate her point. "But I think I will, better she find out from me than anyone else and for what it's worth, you are just as good in bed as I remember you from when we were dating."

"Likewise." Kylie responded with a coy grin before crawling over to her ex. "Sure you don't want to go another round?"

"I'm sure." Chelsea nodded and Kylie frowned before she started getting dressed. "You off back to your tent?"

"I could stay in here all night spooning you, but things have gotten way to awkward." Kylie responded as she shook her head. "Don't get me wrong, I loved the trip down memory lane with you Chels, but I can see where this is going, even so, you know where to find me if you change your mind." Kylie added once she got dressed and left the tent.

"_That's a big if." _Chelsea thought with a sigh before she started getting dressed herself. _"On one hand, Kylie's beautiful and just as great in bed as I remember, on the other hand, she might be in an open relationship with her boyfriend, but I can't shake the feeling that I just played homewrecker to both of our relationships." _Chelsea thought as she finished getting dressed and got ready to go back to sleep. _"How the fuck do I explain this to Beth?!"_

*back at the castle*

By now the party had fought through the undead littering the castle courtyard and found themselves inside the castle itself, once they were sure that they were alone the party turned to each other.

"Okay, so assuming this Ravenscar guy is in the castle." Fran commented as she sheathed her sword after cutting down the last zombie. "Who's getting the duel this time around? Chloe got the first duel a while back, Amanda and Ricardo dueled in the last castle." Fran added before glancing between herself and Jason. "Far as I see it, it's between me and Jason."

"Well, if he isn't alone then a tag team duel would solve both of our problems." Jason suggested and Fran nodded apparently liking the idea. "But that's a big if and if his partner's Lord Ravencraw…"

"There would be nothing stopping Ravencraw from cutting down the party and having his way with Chloe." Amanda interrupted him and the others turned to her whilst Chloe shuddered. "Sorry Chloe but I'm being realistic here, Lord Ravencraw is the big bad of Chloe's story so I think it's safe to assume that we're not meant to deal with that bastard until we're at a much higher level." Amanda added and the others nodded in agreement.

"It's not that I don't agree with you Amanda." Chloe commented as she folded her arms. "But on the other hand, the memories of the atrocities that Lord Ravencraw inflicted on that other castle are still fresh in my mind, or do I need to remind you of what he did to the twin princesses?"

"Believe me, that was enough to put me off having sex with Adrienne last night, I know what you mean." Amanda nodded in agreement before turning to the hallways that they had yet to explore. "I say we stick together this time, if Ravencraw is here we stand a better chance together than separated."

"United we stand, divided we fall, I can get behind that logic." Ricardo nodded in agreement before they started exploring the castle.

*a bit later*

The party continued to explore the castle but as far as they could see it was as deserted as the last one, eventually they stumbled upon a library that was as big as a house.

"I swear, you could stock this place full of fantasy novels and I'd never leave." Chloe admitted as she looked around the massive library. "I think it's safe to say that whoever lived here is as big a book nerd as I am."

"Maybe, but for all we know this might have been where the king kept his records." Amanda responded with a nod as she looked around. "Okay, where to start?"

"There's at least three stories to this place, I think we'd cover more ground if we split up." Ricardo responded and almost immediately Amanda went over to Chloe. "It's times like these that make me wish we had a sixth member of our party, maybe then you two would go five minutes before trying to have sex."

"Your assuming that the sixth member wouldn't just ask if he/she cold join in, or at the very least watch." Amanda responded as she rolled her eyes and Chloe blushed like a madwoman. "What? You've never been in a threesome Chloe?"

"No, Lance is the only sexual partner I've ever had!" Chloe responded with an annoyed huff. "Besides that, even if we did offer that to him, he'd tire himself out from doing a victory lap around the island."

"True enough." Amanda admitted with a chuckle. "Then again, I think Adrienne would insist on joining in if this happened in the real world, and even then, I think we'd be more interested in each other."

"Make that two victory laps." Chloe responded as she shook her head "Besides that, the other castle was too old and dusty for us to get in the mood for sex, this place looks like it's more of the same."

"Good point." Amanda nodded as she looked around before turning to the shorter woman. "But if we do find the one spotless place in the castle, well I bet you could minor illusion up a "Do Not Disturb" sign and hang it over the door."

"And on that note, we're off." Jason said hurriedly before pushing Ricardo and Fran towards the staircase to the second floor. "If we find anything, we'll call down to you."

"And we'll call up to you if we find anything." Chloe responded with a barely suppressed grin as she watched Ricardo and Fran protest against Jason's idea, or rather their lack of input in it. "You weren't serious about that orgy idea, weren't you?" Chloe asked Amanda once the others were out of earshot and Amanda shook her head.

"I was serious about Adrienne insisting on her conclusion." Amanda clarified as she turned to the shorter woman. "I wasn't serious about you and Lance being involved, though knowing Lance he'd be all over that idea."

"I don't doubt that for a second and I'm his girlfriend." Chloe admitted as she shook her head. "Let's just get searching before we spend the rest of the session discussing our sex lives."

"Well, if you wanted details about me and Adrienne's sex life, you'd need more than one night anyway." Amanda chuckled and Chloe ignored the taller woman as she searched through the books.

*sometime later*

"Did you find anything?" Ricardo asked Jason as the trio looked around the third floor, after finding not much of interest on the second floor the trio had moved up to the third floor which seemed to have the king's personal records from what they could see. "All I'm seeing is correspondence with the other lords of the realm."

"Anything that mentions Ravencraw or Ravenscar?" Jason asked and Ricardo shook his head whilst Jason searched through the books. "The guide said to come here, I don't think we would've been led here if there was nothing related to Chloe's quest."

"I know what you mean man, fortunately there's still a shitton more books to go and…..." Ricardo trailed off when the two men heard Fran scream. "Fran?!"

"She was over there, let's more." Jason responded before drooping the book and the men raced over to the source of the scream.

And face-faulted once they realized that Fran was screaming with laughter as she read one of the books. "Fucking hell, this is the funniest shit I've read all year." Fran commented in between fits of laughter before seeing the annoyed looks she was getting from her male companions. "What?"

"We heard you scream, we thought you were in danger." Jason commented with an annoyed huff. "And considering that we still haven't found the necromancer who animated the dead outside, this is hardly the time to scare us like that!"

"That's assuming that the Necromancer didn't escape whilst we were battling the dead." Ricardo responded before glancing at the book Fran was reading. "What are you reading anyway?"

"Well, you guys were looking at the king's stuff, right?" Fran asked and the two men nodded. "This seems to be the princesses' stuff, and I just found her little black book."

"You mean to tell me that the princess of this castle slept with enough men that she had to write a whole book to keep track of it?" Jason added and Fran shook her head. "There's more than one book?"

"Yeah, and like Amanda gender didn't seem to be an issue when it came to her partners." Fran responded before motioning to another book on a nearby table. "And she slept around so much that she had to create two little black books, one for her male partners, which I'm reading, and one for her female partners which is on the table." Fran added as she motioned to the book with her head. "But I wouldn't read either of them without expecting it to be some naïve, shy princess."

"She went into detail?" Ricardo asked with a deadpan expression on his face. "I'm almost afraid to ask but how much detail?"

"Enough detail to make the chick who wrote 50 Shades of Grey blush." Fran responded with a grin before going back a few pages. "Listen to this exert: "today whilst father was out hunting, I took two of the stable boys around the back of the stables for some "fun", their cocks felt so big in my….", well you get the idea, don't even get me started on the entry where she had a gangbang with the royal guard."

"That's enough detail for me." Jason interrupted her as he snapped the book close in her hands. "Anything that mentions Ravencraw or Ravenscar?"

"Nothing in the diary about female partners for obvious reasons." Fran responded as she shook her head before opening the book, she was reading up again. "Before you guys came over, I had just finished the gangbang entry, but the last few entries mention Ravencraw and Ravenscar."

"If it's anything like the last castle, we're not going to like the contents." Ricardo responded with a frown on his face. "We know Ravencraw has a thing for petite women with ling brown hair thanks to the last castle and the fact that that fits Chloe's description to a t, my question is was there any mention of stuff like that in the diary?"

"Mostly obscene references, like "he grabbed my long dark brown hair as he was doing me from behind" and "I worry what that huge cock will do to my petite body."." Fran responded before lowering her head. "And now I'm glad Phil isn't around to hear me say this!"

"Except you're a redhead of above average height." Ricardo responded and Fran shook her head.

"Hey, I gave him crap about being inches away from the naked breasts of the blonde Gemini Elf during the last session, if he knew what I was saying out loud then he'd never let me hear the end of it." Fran defended herself before the Irish woman noticed the looks, she was getting from her companions. "Long story, but back to Ravencraw, apparently she was engaged to Ravenscar but was practically cheating on him with everyone who even breathed in her direction."

"I have two questions." Ricardo said as he ran a hand down his face. "Did the princess think she was living in a porno or something? And does this setting have its own version of the Darwin Awards?"

"I'm more surprised I didn't find any entries about her trying to get laid whilst pregnant now that you mention it." Fran admitted as a massive sweat-drop rolled down her head. "And I don't know but it seems Ravencraw found out because the last entry mentioned that he'd be arriving here in two days."

"Knowing what he had to the twins at the other castle because they tried to pull a switcharoo, I'm perfectly content with not finding out what Ravencraw did to her." Jason responded as a sweat-drop rolled down his head. "Especially if he brought Ravenscar with him."

"Let's keep searching before you put me off my dinner." Fran quickly suggested before tossing the diary aside once the two men nodded in agreement.

*back on the first floor*

Amanda and Chloe had heard Fran screaming from the top floor, but they put it out of their minds once they saw that Ricardo and Jason were on it, without knowing much else beyond that the two women resumed their search.

"Not much over here." Chloe commented as she looked through the books. "I'm beginning to think that the guys on the top floor are having all the fun."

"Based on what? One scream?" Amanda asked with a raised eyebrow as the tall redhead turned to the petite brunette woman. "I will admit, things are pretty boring down here and given how dusty this place is I doubt even Adrienne would be in the mood for sex,"

"How you guys can keep that up for so long I don't know." Chloe responded as she shook her head. "Does Adrienne start her day with a mixture of red bull, coffee and a random aphrodisiac or something?"

"Never tried to combo before and it doesn't sound healthy so I think I'll pass, and I think Adrienne would as well." Amanda responded with a sight laugh. "Seriously though, when it comes to sex Adrienne is like "if it happens, if it happens and I will go for seconds, thirds and fourths", pretty much the only reason she didn't get pregnant whilst dating Jacques was because she always insisted on a condom or birth control pills if she was with a male partner."

"And I bet that would've changed if they ever tried for a baby, off course it never got that far for obvious reasons." Chloe responded as she read a book and discarded it when it provided nothing useful, Amanda nodded though her body language made it clear that it was still a sensitive topic. "Sorry, I know that's still a sensitive issue."

"Don't worry about it, I was the one who brought up Jacques." Amanda responded with a sigh as she shook her head. "It wasn't just the fact that they were cheating on us or the fact that they pulled that revenge porn stunt on us that hurt the most, it was the fact that that scandal almost derailed me and Adrienne's careers."

"I know Lance isn't the kind of guy who'd pull that shit." Chloe nodded in agreement as she checked another book. "But if he did, I think my stepdad would pull a gun on him the next time he showed up at the shop."

"I used to think the same about Casey but that just shows that you never really know someone." Amanda responded and Chloe gave her an annoyed look. "I'm not saying that Lance is likely to do that, especially since he has a younger sister, but just be careful with what you send him."

"Do I look like the type pf woman who'd send those kind of images to my boyfriend?" Chloe asked before pausing and looking over her outfit. "Says the woman whose wardrobe consists of about 50% crop tops, you know what? Forget I said that."

"Hey, compared to some female pro-leaguers I know, you're practically a nun." Amanda joked getting a laugh out of Chloe before they heard Jason whistling from the top floor.

"If you lovebirds are done making out down there, we found something up here, third floor." Jason called out to them and the two women nodded.

"We'll be up in a sec." Chloe called back before she put down the book she was looking at. "Look at me, the book nerd throwing away books like they are nothing." Chloe sighed as she followed the taller woman to the staircase. "My book club would have a collective heart attack if they could see me now!"

"If it helps, those books are technically bits of data and not real books." Amanda assured her as the two women approached the staircase.

"Race you to the top?" Chloe suggested and Amanda turned to her. "I did say that we'd be up there in a sec."

"Are you sure? Before I joined North Academy, I was the captain of my school's track team, been a few years since I've raced anyone, but I still stick to my old training regimen." Amanda added and Chloe hesitated before nodding. "I will point out that even Stevie Wonder could see who's going to win this race." Amanda responded as she looked Chloe over. "But what the hell? I was getting bored anyway." Amanda shrugged her shoulders before the two women raced up the stairs.

*ten seconds later*

The two women raced to the top pf the stairs as quickly as they could which wasn't a problem for the taller, clearly more athletic and leggier Amanda, shorter, not athletic at all and not very leggy Chloe on the other hand?

"Next time I suggest racing up three flights of stairs against someone who competed in her school's track team before taking up dueling, feel free to punch me." Chloe said in between deep breaths as she doubled over, just as Amanda had predicted, she was the clear winner as Chloe had tired herself out by the second floor even though Amanda was in armor and Chloe wasn't. "I'm not exactly overweight but I'm not exactly athletic either."

"I was about to say, if your overweight then I'd hate to see your definition of morbidly obese." Amanda teased her and Chloe gave her a mock death glare one she caught her breath. "So, what was so important that it led to me racing my in game girlfriend?" Amanda asked as she turned to the others and Fran motioned for the two women to follow her.

"First things first, Ravencraw was here." Fran explained as she led the other party members away. "Ravenscar was engaged to marry this castle's princess, but she slept with everyone in the castle who so much as looked at her the right way and the Raven clan found out."

"Please tell me you didn't find her remains?" Amanda asked with a shudder and Chloe shuddered as well as it dawned on the two women. "We saw what that bastard did to the twins in the other castle after they tried to deceive him, cheating on his brother with everyone in the castle on the other hand?"

"The good news is we don't have to worry about burying her this time, I found a ledger left by Ravencraw, he admitted to torturing her, raping her and burying her alive underneath the castle." Fran explained before frowning. "It feels weird saying this but that sounds almost merciful compared to the fate of the twins, except for one thing."

"What? Is Ravenscar down there constantly reviving her so he can punish her some more?" Chloe asked and Fran nodded much to Chloe's horror. "Do we know where she's buried? Because at this point, defeating Ravenscar would be a mercy kill for her."

"Fortunately, yes, we found a secret passage and well, I'll let the ambience fill you in." Fran responded as she stopped in front of the passage, it wasn't immediately obvious but the mad cackling and horrified screams coming from within quickly alerted Chloe and Amanda. "We already talked this over, if we face the princess and Ravenscar in a tag team duel it'll be me and Jason representing us."

"And if he faces us alone, I'll take him on." Jason nodded as he approached the passageway. "Shall we?"

"Like we have a choice?" Ricardo asked before they went down into the passageway.

*an hour later*

The party made their way down the passageway but as it was dark the only clue, they had to the fact that they were nearing their destination was that the noises were getting louder.

"_If I had known things would be this disturbing, I think I would've declined the invite and just spend the fortnight with the dogs instead." _Chloe thought with a shudder as they made their way down the passageway. _"But I guess the alure of dueling in the place where Yugi Moto earned his title of King of Games was too tempting! Sooner that we're done here the better!" _Chloe thought before the party came to a stop. "Don't tell me, he left more zombies to guard the entranceway to his little torture chamber?"

"That would've been interesting, but he didn't have the courtesy to do that." Amanda deadpanned before Chloe realized that they were at the entrance to a chamber.

And in front of the party they saw a naked petite woman with long dark brown hair strapped to a table expire as a heavily scared dark haired man prepared to cast a spell as he loomed over her dead body. "Oh no you don't." Ravenscar said as his hand glowed with a sickly green energy. "One death for each time you were unfaithful to me!"

"I don't think so Ravenscar." Jason called out as the party poured into the room and Ravenscar's attention was broken long enough for the spell to fail. "Do you know how long that would take for one thing!?"

"Off course I do, I've been at this for days!" Ravenscar growled as a jet black duel disk appeared on his arm. "And since you interrupted the ritual, she is dead for good and you must pay!"

"You say that like it's a bad thing, you son of a bitch!" Chloe growled as her eyes narrowed before glancing between the dead princess and Ravenscar. "And for that matter, what exactly did she see in you? She was beautiful and you're not!"

"Do you really think beauty matters in marriage? The king married her off to me to secure the alliance, when her treachery was discovered, steps had to be taken to ensure that no one else would be so foolish as to try that again." Ravenscar responded as his eyes narrowed. "And don't think he's forgotten about you Chloe! Her suffering will be nothing compared to what my brother will do to you." Ravenscar added and Chloe's frown deepened.

"Great, you cut my hair for nothing!" Chloe commented as she gave Amanda an annoyed look and Amanda sighed.

"I had to try something." Amanda defended herself as she turned to the shorter woman. "I mean, how many Tiefling Princesses does that bastard have his eye on anyway?"

"She's the only one." Ravenscar chimed in and both women face-faulted as they realized that their efforts were for naught. "Now, who will be my opponent?!"

"Me!" Jason said as he stepped forward and both men activated their duel disks. "You will pay for the suffering you put her through!"

"And you will pay for interrupting her punishment!" Ravenscar responded before the deck master selection screen appeared in front of them. "My deck master is Archfiend Soldier!" Ravenscar announced as the tall purple demon appeared next to him (4/1900/1500).

"_Well, there goes any ambiguity as it relates to what deck he's running." _Jason thought as he made his choice. "My deck master is Jinzo#7!" Jason announced as the small robot appeared next to him (2/500/400). "He's small but he packs a hell of a punch."

"We'll see about that! I'll go first!" Ravenscar announced as he drew his card.

"Amanda, once we're out of here, I'm letting my hair grow back out." Chloe whispered to the taller woman who quickly nodded in agreement. "Because wearing it shorter clearly isn't working."

"Agreed, you look better with longer hair anyway." Amanda nodded in agreement before they looked up in time to see Ravenscar make his move.

"I activate Terra-Forming! Using this Spell Card, I can search my deck for one Field Spell Card and add it to my hand." Ravenscar announced before searching through his deck for the card, once he found the card, he was looking for he added it to his hand and let his deck auto shuffle. "And now I activate it! Welcome to Archfiend Palabrynth!" Ravenscar announced as he played the card and the scenery changed to a large, maze like castle though the princess's remains were still visible.

"_And now I'm glad that Sophia decided to omit the more unpleasant stages of death." _Jason thought with a frown as he glanced over at the princesses' dead body. _"I've never dueled next to a decaying dead body before and I'm in no hurry to experience the sights and smells of the decomposition process!"_

"As long as I control this Field Spell all Fiend Type Monsters I control gain five hundred attack points, I can also target one Archfiend Monster I control, banish another one and special summon a third Archfiend Monster from my hand, deck or graveyard with the same level as the targeted monster." Ravenscar explained before picking up a card in his hand. "But we'll get to the second effect later, for now I summon Archfiend Cavalry in attack mode!" Ravenscar announced as he played the card and the skeletal knight atop the demonic horse appeared on the field (4/1900/0) and his attack increased to 2400 thanks to Ravenscar's Field Spell.

"I know what that monster does and that was a pretty big misplay on your part." Jason commented as he folded his arms. "When Archfiend Cavalry is destroyed by a card effect, you can Special Summon another Archfiend monster from your graveyard, you would've been better off holding onto that monster until later in the duel."

"Do you always give your opponents advice?" Fran asked with a deadpan expression on her face and Jason laughed nervously as a sweat-drop rolled down his head.

"Under normal circumstances, you would be right." Ravenscar responded before motioning to Archfiend General. "But this is where my Deck Master's ability comes in, when I normal or special summon a monster with Archfiend in its name, I can choose to send another Archfiend monster from my deck to the graveyard or Special Summon one from the graveyard! As this is just the first turn, I don't need to explain what my choice is."

"_So, it's the bastard child of Foolish Burial and Monster Reborn on steroids." _Jason thought as a massive sweat-drop rolled down his head. _"Given the size of the virtual world, it shouldn't surprise me that Sophia's playtesting of Deck Master Abilities wasn't as thorough as she would've liked." _Jason thought as Ravenscar sent the card to the graveyard.

"I end my turn by setting two cards facedown." Ravenscar announced and Jason drew his card.

"You like having cards in your graveyard? Well so do I, I activate Hand Destruction! Now we both draw two cards in exchange for sending two cards from our hands to the graveyard." Jason explained before both men discarded two cards and drew twice. "Now I summon Genex Recycled in attack mode!" Jason announced as he played the card and the small black machine made of recycled materials appeared on the field (1/200/400) and Ravenscar nearly fell over laughing when he saw the monster.

"I summon a level four monster with 2400 attack points and that's the best you can do?!" Ravenscar scoffed as he regained his composure. "If you wanted to die so badly, you should've said!"

"If you had told me when I woke up this morning that I'd be agreeing with a psychopath who saw no problem with torturing a woman to death and reviving her over and over just because she slept around, I would've given you a funny look." Fran commented as she shook her head with a face-palm. "That said, Genex? Really?! That's not exactly a strong archetype!"

"Yeah, he's been running that deck since he started playing the game." Chloe responded as she let out a sigh. "I should know because I was still an Osiris Red Student when he joined Duel Academy and I got to see him duel, and that Genex deck saw him through to Obelisk Blue by the time of his graduation."

"After some heavy modifying." Jason chimed in as he glanced over at the two women. "Taking out cards that didn't work out the way I thought they would, having to adjust it to keep it in line with the latest ban-lists, you guys should know all about this being pro-leaguers with years of experience on me!"

"True but I can name several stronger archetypes than Genex just off the top of my head." Ricardo chimed in with a frown on his face. "But hey, feel free to prove me wrong."

"I'll just point out that the person who's story we're following runs a deck that's half warriors and half spellcasters and came in second in the Domino City Regionals last year and move on." Jason deadpanned and Ricardo and Fran went to rebuke his comment but couldn't find the words, a playful glare from Chloe didn't help matters either. "Also, Fran didn't Chloe eliminate you from the New York Battle City when she was a rookie?"

"That wasn't one of my better duels." Fran admitted as a sweat-drop rolled down her head. "My match against her at last year's Battle City was a lot better.,"

"I'm still waiting for it to come out on DVD, so I'll take your word for that." Jason responded with a nod before turning to Ravenscar. _"Off course, it doesn't help that the New York Battle City Tournament has never seen a DVD release because of how ingrained the Orichalcos was in that tournament, pretty sure most people would rather pretend that it never happened." _Jason thought before pointing to Genex Recycled. "I activate the effect of Genex Recycled, once per turn I can target one Genex Monster in my graveyard and Genex Recycled's name is treated as that monster's name for the rest of the turn."

"About time." Ravenscar responded impatiently as he tapped his foot. "But how is that supposed to help against my Archfiends?"

"On his own? Not by much." Jason nodded before picking up a card. "Which is why I'm not done yet! Since I control another Genex Monster I can Special Summon Omni Genex from my hand!" Jason announced as he played the card and the large robot appeared on the field ready for battle (5/1000/1000). "This guy's an Earth Type Monster but his attribute is also counted as fire, water and wind."

"So, you summoned a slightly stronger machine?" Ravenscar scoffed as he folded his arms. "What good will that do you?"

"Someone's impatient today so I'll cut to the chase, Genex Recycled is a Tuner Monster so I tune him and Omni Genex together!" Jason announced as the two monsters leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon. Geo Genex in defense mode!" Jason announced as he played the card and the massive drill like machine appeared on the field (6/1800/2800). "He can't beat your Cavalry, but 2800 defense points will be more than enough to hold them off for now."

"We'll see about that!" Ravenscar sneered as he folded his arms. "End your turn already!"

"I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Jason announced as he set the cards and Ravenscar drew his card.

"I set a monster in defense mode." Ravenscar announced as he set the monster and the facedown card appeared on the field. "And before you ask, no, my deck master's ability doesn't apply to set cards."

"_I guess she did do some playtesting before the tournament." _Jason thought as he glanced at the facedown monster. _"Who's have thought?"_

"I end my turn at that." Ravenscar announced and Jason drew his card.

"I switch Geo Genex to attack mode!" Jason announced as the machine got ready for battle. "Now I summon Genex Searcher!" Jason announced as he played the card and the large grey robot appeared on the field (4/1600/400). "I activate Geo Genex's effect, since I control a level four or lower Genex Monster I can switch the attack and defense of Geo Genex around until the end phase!" Jason explained as Geo Genex's attack increased to 2800 and his defense dropped to 1800. "And I attack Archfiend Cavalry!" Jason announced as the drill charged towards Ravenscar's monster….

"I don't think so! I activate my trap card Archfiend's Roar!" Ravenscar responded as his trap card flipped up. "I simply pay 2800 life-points and your monster's attack drops to zero!" Ravenscar added as his life-points dropped to 5200 and sure enough Geo Genex's attack dropped to zero. "Archfiend Cavalry, counterattack!" Ravenscar commanded and the demonic horseman charged towards the drill before destroying it and bringing Jason's life-points down to 5600. "If you want to keep sending your monsters to their doom, feel. Free."

"Geo Genex is gone but not forgotten." Jason responded as he motioned to Jinzo#7. "By destroying a level five or higher Genex Synchro Monster you activated Jinzo#7's deck master ability, with it I can take the tuner monster used to summon him alongside one other monster in my graveyard and shuffle both back into my deck." Jason added as he shuffled both monsters back into his deck. "Next I activate my Continuous Trap Card Attribute Synchron, it gets effects based on the attribute of a Synchro Summoned Monster,"

"Then why didn't you activate it before summoning Geo Genex?" Ravenscar asked with a raised eyebrow and Jason frowned.

"Because that effect allows me to destroy monsters which is exactly what you want me to do with Archfiend Cavalry on the field." Jason responded before pointing to Ravenscar's facedown monster. "And speaking of monsters, I have one that can attack! Genex Searcher, attack his defense monster!" Jason commanded and Genex Searcher fired a laser beam at the monster, revealed to be a pale toddler in a long, elaborate robe carrying a magic staff (3/0/2000) who survived the blast. "What the?!" Jason asked with a bewildered look on his face as his life-points dropped to 5200.

"Meet the Terrifying Toddler of Torment!" Ravenscar announced proudly causing the other duelists to face-fault when they heard the name. "When she is flip summoned, I can send one Fiend Monster from my deck to the graveyard."

"There was once a time when I thought "Super Nimble Mega Hamster" was the worst duel monster name I had ever heard." Chloe deadpanned as she and the others got back to their feet. "Not anymore! That toddler has beaten the hamster!" Chloe added before face-palming. "Did I seriously just say that sentence out loud during a duel?!"

"I'll file that one under "sentences I never thought I'd hear in my life" Chloe." Jason responded with a good natured grin before turning to Ravenscar. "For what it's worth, our life-point scores are even again, I end my turn." Jason announced and Ravenscar drew his card.

"Your finished! I activate my trap card Call of the Haunted to Special Summon my best monster, come forth Archfiend Emperor, First Lord of Horror from my graveyard!" Ravenscar announced as his facedown card flipped up and a mountain of a man in black, evil looking armor appeared on the field carrying a sword (8/3000/3000) and his attack points increased to 3500 thanks to the field spell. "I activate my emperor's effect! I banish one Archfiend monster from my hand or graveyard to destroy Genex Searcher!" Ravenscar announced and the emperor slammed his sword down atop the machine destroying him. "Do the math boy, my monsters combined attack power is higher than your life-points! Archfiend Emperor, Archfiend Cavalry…" Ravenscar never finished his sentence as a large box dropped down from the sky in front of him. "What the?!"

"I activated my trap card Genex Care Package." Jason responded as he motioned to his activated trap. "When you declare an attack and I have no monsters to defend myself with, this trap card lets me Special Summon a Genex Monster from my deck or graveyard in defense mode and end the Battle Phase immediately so welcome to the field Genex Controller!" Jason explained as the box opened to reveal the small brown machine (3/1400/1200).

"You brought yourself a turn at most." Ravenscar responded with a sneer as his eyes narrowed. "Make your final move!" Ravenscar commanded and Jason drew his card.

"I activate the effect of Omni Genex from my graveyard! As I have four Genex Monsters of different attributes in my graveyard I can remove him from play to shuffle them into my deck and draw two cards." Jason announced before pocketing the card and shuffling the rest back into his deck before drawing two cards. "Well, well, guess whose back?" Jason asked rhetorically before playing the card and Omni Genex returned ro the field.

"You seriously expect me to believe that you just happened to draw into Omni Genex after removing it from play?" Ravenscar asked with a raised eyebrow and Jason shrugged.

"Luck of the draw, that's all I'm saying." Jason responded before motioning to his two monsters. "But since you've got your ace monster out, it's time I brought out mine! I'm giving Omni Genex a tune up with Genex Controller!" Jason announced as the two monsters leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon. "I Synchro Summon Genex Dragon!" Jason announced as he played the card and the massive metallic dragon appeared on the field with a mechanical roar (8/2800/2400). "I'll get to his effect later, but did you forget about Attribute Synchron?"

"No, I didn't." Ravenscar responded as he shook his head. "So, what's the effect this time?"

"Well, since Omni Genex counts as multiple attributes, I get a choice, and right now I feel like destroying your Archfiends!" Jason announced and Ravenscar's eyes widened as the dragon breathed fire on the two monsters destroying them.

"Did you forget about Archfiend Cavalry's effect already? I use his effect to summon my emperor back to the field!" Ravenscar announced as Archfiend Emperor returned to the field. "You just wasted your trap card!"

"Maybe but Genex Dragon has a similar effect to Attribute Synchron." Jason explained and Ravenscar paused as it hit him. "I use the Earth effect, which cuts your emperor's attack points in half!"

"What?!" Ravenscar demanded as the Emperor's attack dropped to 1750. "I'll still survive this attack!"

"No, you won't, I activate De-Synchro to split Genex Dragon back into it's original parts." Jason announced as Genex Dragon disappeared from the field and Omni Genex and Genex Controller returned to the field. "So, who's up for another Synchro Summon? I tune my two monsters together one more time to Synchro Summon Genex Dragon back to the field!" Jason announced as the two monsters performed the Synchro Summon ritual and Genex Dragon returned to the field. "Say goodbye to your monsters!"

"You will pay for this!" Ravenscar growled as as the dragon breathed fire at the emperor and the toddler destroying them. "What I did to that wrench will be child's play compared to the hell that awaits you!"

"Ravenscar, if anyone belongs in hell, it's you!" Jason said as he turned the second card, he had drawn around revealing it to be Limiter Removal. "And when you get there, you can tell them that Jason Hutchins sent you! I activate Limiter Removal to double my dragon's power." Jason announced as he played the card and the dragon doubled in size and power to 5600. "Finish this scumbag off!" Jason commanded and the dragon breathed fire at Ravenscar brining his life-points down to zero.

"We will meet again!" Ravenscar growled before opening a portal and jumping through it before the other duelists could react.

"Was hoping to get a chance to talk to him about his brother." Chloe admitted before two pings went off, one to indicate that they had beaten a boss and the other to indicate that they had leveled up. "At least we got some good news out of this!"

"So, what do we do about her?" Jason asked as he motioned to the princesses' corpse. "He said that he'd been at this for days so who knows what state her bodies in?"

"We'll discuss this later." Amanda said before the world started to break down around them. "Probably over dinner."

"The session has now ended, taking you back to the real world." The computerized voice informed the players before a bright flash enveloped them.

*back in the real world*

Once the post session meeting had ended most duelists had returned to their rooms to relax before dinner, Chelsea included.

"_Participate in the Virtual Kingdom Tournament I said, it'll be fun I said." _Chelsea thought as she ran both hands through her hair in front of her laptop, she had Skype open and in front of her was Beth's Skype contact. _"If I had known that I'd be cheating on Beth with my ex I would've stayed home!"_

"_You know what you have to do." _Wattchimera responded and Chelsea closed her eyes. _"I know you turned atheist after that incident in the church, but confessing might be good for your soul."_

"_Never mind the fact that I was a Christian and not Catholic." _Chelsea responded before grabbing her headset and plugging it into her laptop. _"Let's get this over with." _Chelsea thought before calling Beth.


	30. Enemy Within

It felt like an age had passed before Beth saw Chelsea's request for a Skype chat and called her over Skype but before long Chelsea was ready to talk with her girlfriend.

"Hey Chelsea, sorry for the wait, things have been hectic since I started at North Academy." Beth greeted her girlfriend and Chelsea grinned though she was mentally preparing herself for the conversation to come. "How goes the tournament? I know the last we spoke, you mentioned that your party includes Kylie and Ray."

"You can add Kaiba to that list as well." Chelsea responded nearly causing Beth to fall out of her computer chair in response. "We just hit the second level so things should start getting interesting soon."

"One can only hope." Beth responded with a grin but before long she frowned as she sensed something was wrong. "Chelsea, is something bothering you?"

"_And here we go." _Chelsea thought before letting out a deep breath. "What makes you say that?"

"Chelsea, we've been girlfriends since we were teenagers and we've lived together for about two years now." Beth responded as a sweat-drop rolled down her head. "If I can't tell that you are stressed out about something even after all that, then I've wasted the past six years of my life."

"_Oh good, that makes me feel so much better about the fact that I had sex with Kylie." _Chelsea thought sarcastically before sighing. "Your right, I am stressed about something, I did something incredibly stupid earlier today."

"You didn't lose your temper, did you?" Beth asked with a concerned look on her face and Chelsea quickly shook her head much to Beth's relief. "That's good, I thought you had put that stuff behind you."

"That stuff is so far behind me that it may as well be in another country." Chelsea assured her before lowering her head. "I'll just give it to you straight, I found out that Kylie never got over how our relationship ended all those years ago, I was upset that she didn't admit it sooner, but we talked for a bit until…." Chelsea trailed off before sighing. "Well, Kylie started coming onto me at some point, I didn't pick up on it at first because she was subtle about it, as in nudging up closer to me and talking about what could've been between me and her? One thing lead to another and we had sex." Chelsea admitted and Beth was quiet for the longest time as she processed the information. "I didn't realize how badly I fucked up until after we were done."

"For Christ's sake Chelsea." Beth sighed as she ran a hand down her face. "What were you thinking?! You know she's got a boyfriend of her own, right?"

"Yeah, I know, they are apparently in an open relationship of some kind." Chelsea nodded as she let out a deep breath. "I'm not about to pretend that that excuses me for succumbing to her advances, but I figured being honest about it would be better than lying about it,"

"Honesty was always your best trait, even if you are brutal about it." Beth nodded in acknowledgement and Chelsea sighed. "What about Jasmine?"

"What about her?" Chelsea asked with a confused look on her face.

"She thinks the world of you, and you go and do this?!" Beth pointed out and Chelsea bit her lip before nodding. "I'm not suggesting that I'm going to be calling Chris as soon as this chat ends but she looks up to you and Jamie as her cool aunts! Okay granted you and Jamie are her only aunts but my point still stands."

"I wasn't thinking about her at the time, I mean it'd be really weird to think of your three year old niece whilst your having sex with other women wouldn't it?" Chelsea pointed out and Beth paused.

"Fair point, I'll give you that." Beth admitted with a nod before sighing. "I have to go because I've got dinner in the oven but just promise me one thing Chelsea, that this was only a onetime thing, and this won't happen again during the tournament."

"I made it clear to Kylie that it was a onetime thing before we started having sex and reaffirmed it once I woke up from the post sex nap, as good as she is in bed, I'm not about to leave you for her." Chelsea responded and Beth let out a sigh of relief. "Kylie respected that fact but did invite me into her tent if I changed my mind about round two."

"I take it you didn't take her up on the offer?" Beth asked and Chelsea nodded.

"Even if I did, the session was almost over anyway, I don't think Sophia was ready for the end of a session to interrupt a sex session." Chelsea assured her girlfriend who nodded with a chuckle. "Pretty sure they didn't cover that in sex ed, anyway, look, either way, it's obvious to me that we're going to need couple's counseling once this tournament is over."

"You read my mind from hallway across the world." Beth chuckled before sighing. "But seriously Chelsea, I'm willing to let you off this time but if you cheat on me again there may not be a next time, are we clear?"

"Crystal, and I'd better go see about grabbing a table for dinner." Chelsea responded as she checked the time on her laptop clock. "Speak with you tomorrow?"

"Sure, though I don't think I'll get much sleep tonight after this conversation, see you later Chelsea." Beth responded before she ended the Skype call.

"_That has to be the most awkward conversation I've had in years." _Chelsea thought as she stood up and walked away from her laptop. _"Definitely up there with the conversation with the teachers at Duel Academy following my assault on Jessica and the conversation with my siblings during the rage intervention, hopefully I'll be able to put this behind me as well." _Chelsea thought before she left her room.

*in the dining hall*

By now most of the tables in the dining room had been taken up by the duelists, those who had been eliminated and those who were still in the tournament alike, leaving Chelsea without much choice of where she would sit.

Fortunately for her, one of Chelsea's oldest friends pulled through. "I was hoping we'd get a chance to chat and catch up." Chloe commented as Chelsea made herself comfortable opposite her old roommate from Duel Academy. "Between all the demonic possession and the tournament, we haven't really had a chance for that, have we?"

"Considering that I spent the first two dinners chatting with either Ray or Kylie, that was unavoidable." Chelsea nodded in agreement before she picked up the menu, she could see Kylie from where she was, and her ex was sitting with her boyfriend a couple of tables over from them. _"And considering I just slept with her in game behind Beth's back, I'm in no hurry to chat with Kylie right now." _Chelsea thought before turning her attention back to Chloe. "When's Lance joining us anyway?"

"He won't be that long he's just having a Skype Chat with Mike and Sophie." Chloe responded with a nod and Chelsea grinned. "Mike's still annoyed that he got snubbed when it comes to tournament invites, especially with Jason in the tournament."

"That's right, they were roommates in Osiris Red, weren't they?" Chelsea asked and Chloe nodded as Chelsea leaned back. "At least I know why Beth didn't get an invite, poor track record and a new job at North Academy will do that."

"Shame, I was looking forward to seeing her again." Chloe nodded with a sad sigh as she glanced over at the taller woman. "You ever think about the Academy days much? Or your teenage years for that matter?"

"Don't even get me started." Chelsea responded as she shook her head with a face-palm. "No offense but the only positives I really take away from those days are the facts that I met my current girlfriend, grew into the woman I am now and finally found my niche in the world." Chelsea added as she motioned towards her deck. "That last part is kinda funny actually, my older siblings took up jobs that weren't related to Duel Monsters in order to forge their own paths instead of following in dad's footsteps, yet me, the youngest sibling who was still being called their baby sister at eighteen, ended up being a successful duelist just like dad."

"Fate has a funny sense of humor at times." Chloe nodded in agreement before the drinks the two women had ordered arrived. "Then again, I still doubt whether or not I would've taken up Duel Monsters in the first place if my biological dad wasn't such a horrible parent."

"I'm pretty sure most people would agree that your childhood would've been a lot happier if he was at least a decent parent." Chelsea pointed out and Chloe quickly nodded in agreement. "But like I said, between my juvenile record and all the schools I got kicked out of I don't have a lot of stuff from my late teens to look back on with pride, except maybe coming out of the closet."

"Isn't your family accepting of the fact that you're a lesbian though?" Chloe asked and Chelsea nodded.

"Do you think they would've tried as hard to turn me into a success story if they weren't?" Chelsea asked with an amused look on her face and Chloe shook her head. "Tell you the truth? Whenever I tell someone in the Illinois scene about what I was like as a teen, most of them admitted to my face that they wouldn't have been as patient with me as my parents were and that's me being polite, because they know how brutally honest I can be and that I can take as much as I can give in that department." Chelsea added as she ran a hand through her hair. "And looking back, I find it difficult to blame them one bit."

"Even then they still had their limits, I still remember the looks on their faces when your parents showed up at Duel Academy that day you beat Jessica up." Chloe responded with a nod and Chelsea nodded in agreement. "As for me, I have a mixed opinion about it too, for the reason you mentioned, on one hand I cemented my love for Lance and made some great friends, you included, on the other hand, there is definitely some stuff that I'd rather sweep under the rug."

"Including one incident that I won't say out loud because of where we are." Chelsea nodded in understanding and Chloe quickly nodded once she got the idea, even though years had passed since that day and Chloe was over it for the most part, she still deeply regretted the day that she used the Seal of the Orichalcos in a duel even though she had never added it to her deck willingly nor would she had ever added it to her deck otherwise. "We've been dwelling on the depressing stuff for far too fucking long."

"Tell me about it." Chloe nodded in agreement before raising her glass. "We may have come from troubled beginnings Chelsea, but we still haven't let that define us as women, rather we use it as fuel to push us forward, I'd say that was worthy of a toast, wouldn't you?"

"Fucking A it is!" Chelsea nodded in agreement before accepting the toast. "Here's to the future and whatever the fuck it brings us."

"Cheers." Chloe nodded before the two women took sips of their drinks. "Though to be honest, I can't take credit for that quote, I paraphrased it from a fantasy novel I'm reading at the moment."

"I figured as much, I still remember the week you got so far behind on homework because you were so engrossed with reading The Lord of the Rings for the fifty millionth time that I had to step in to get you back on track." Chelsea nodded in agreement and Chloe laughed at that memory from their second year. "I still don't remember how that ended with you on top of me in my bed right when the security guard came in for the nightly dorm check."

"The others never did let us live that down, did they?" Chloe asked with a laugh and Chelsea nodded with a chuckle. "If it weren't for the Obelisk Blue dorms being big enough to eliminate the need for roommates, I'd almost think that that was the only reason that the third year was the only one where we weren't roommates."

"Even so, it's not like our rooms in the Obelisk Blue Girls Dorm were that far apart." Chelsea pointed out with a grin and Chloe nodded. "Just out of curiosity, how much of that quote was paraphrased?"

"I literally only needed to swap the genders around, the original quote was about two brothers with dark and troubled pasts sharing a toast before they went into war." Chloe explained after thinking for a minute and Chelsea nodded in understanding. "Obviously we're not sisters either."

"Yeah, for one thing, if you were born in Chicago, you'd have good taste in pizza." Chelsea teased her old roommate and Chloe gave her a mock death glare. "Don't want to get into that argument for old time's sake?"

"Aside from the fact that Sophia's security would break it up in an instant, there are several Italian duelists competing who'd have their own opinions about it." Chloe responded as she glanced around the room. "After all, Italy is the birthplace of pizza."

"And god knows how many other dishes Beth's learned from our Italian neighbors." Chelsea chuckled in response as she shook her head. "If you ever stop by Woodstock, you should try Beth's cooking, she's turned into quite the cook since we moved in together."

"I've grown into quite the cook myself, me and Beth would probably cook up a hell of a feast." Chloe nodded in agreement and Chelsea grinned though the conversation was reminding her of the one she had with Beth earlier. "Something on your mind?"

"It's nothing, I think it's about time we ordered food anyway." Chelsea responded and Chloe nodded in agreement. _"If I can help it, the only way anyone but Beth, Sophia and Kylie will find out about me screwing Kylie earlier is if it leads to the end of my relationship with Beth, obviously that's a worst case scenario but still." _Chelsea thought as she went over the menu.

*later*

After a delicious meal most of the duelists went on their separate ways to prepare for the next session, there was only a handful of duelists who weren't in the tournament and one of them was still fuming over her elimination.

"_Fucking bullshit!" _Jenny McQuaid thought as the Scottish duelist sat down on the bottom step of the stairs to the castle and got a cigarette out, she was young, still in her early twenties and around Chelsea's height with shoulder length red hair in a messy ponytail and green eyes clad in a beige jacket over a black t-shirt, blue jeans and black boots and right now she needed a smoke. _"I had that match won and that fucking guardian just had to reveal its Exodia strategy? How the fuck is my career supposed to survive this?!"_

"I could've sworn the guidebook that came with the packages clearly stated that the outside of the castle is a No Smoking zone." Sophia's voice rang out and Jenny glanced up to see the current I2 CEO standing just a few steps up from her. "Wouldn't you rather be socializing with your fellow duelists?"

"Get bent." Jenny grunted in response as she lit her cigarette. "My career may as well be over thanks to that fucking guardian and you know it."

"Look I know how frustrating it is to be one of the first duelists eliminated from a tournament, even I've been there." Sophia responded as she walked up to the Scottish woman not realizing that a third woman had joined them. "But that doesn't mean your career is over, you'll bounce back from this."

"Is this a bad time for me to come out and clear my head?" Chelsea asked and Sophia glanced up at the Illinois Regional Champion before shaking her head. "Then again it seems she's out here for the same reason."

"Don't get high a mighty with me Ms. "I won my first title within a year of graduating from Duel Academy."." Jenny responded as she rolled her eyes and Chelsea raised an eyebrow as Sophia walked up to her. "What problems could you possibly have compared to mine?"

"_The fact that I cheated on Beth for one thing." _Chelsea thought as Sophia approached her. "What's up with her?" Chelsea whispered to Sophia once she was close enough.

"Jenny was eliminated from the tournament yesterday and her opponent was using an Exodia deck." Sophia explained and Chelsea nodded once she got the idea. "As you can imagine, she's more than a little frustrated."

"Yeah, I noticed." Chelsea nodded as she glanced over at the younger woman. "Besides, I wanted to ask you something about that thing with Kylie."

"If your about to ask whether it'll be leaked to the press, don't worry, the only info that is allowed to be leaked to the press is eliminations." Sophia assured her but what neither woman noticed was Jenny grunting in pain as she grasped the side of her head. "Anything that'll just be fuel for the tabloids won't be leaked, unless the leaker wants to be fired…" Sophia never finished her sentence as Jenny let out a blood curdling scream making both women jump as they turned around.

"Jenny?" Chelsea called out to her Jenny was consumed by a dark light until she finished screaming, in the process she had dropped her lit cigarette which a nearby guard was quick to put out. _"Fuck! This is the incident on the ship all over again!"_

"We meet again Sophia." The demon greeted the two women through Jenny's mouth before a jet black motorbike appeared next to her. "I'm about to take one of your duelists on the highway to hell." He added before making Jenny get on it.

"Wait!" Chelsea called out before Jenny sped off, Chelsea let out a huff as she watched Jenny speed off. "How the fuck are we going to catch up with her?"

"Bernard, go grab Chelsea's d-wheel." Sophia instructed one of her men catching Chelsea by surprise, when Sophia saw the look Chelsea was giving her, she cleared her throat. "Any active duelist who uses a d-wheel had them flown in by their management company, you included, and yes, that includes your deck."

"Is the island even suitable for this?" Chelsea asked as she glanced out towards the heavily forested island. "Because I don't think crashing face first into a tree sounds like a lot of fun!"

"I doubt there are many who'd disagree with you." Sophia nodded in agreement as Barnard brought Chelsea's bike and speed deck up to her and Chelsea hopped on before grabbing her helmet. "But you've been a motorcyclist for how long?"

"Since I turned twenty one." Chelsea nodded as she put her helmet on and fastened it. "But that was mostly in cities and highways, not through a forest, why did they fly them in anyway?"

"Mostly to give the duelists something to do in between sessions." Sophia added before walking up to Chelsea as she got her bike going. "Remember, we're counting on you, me and Jenny, can I have your phone so you can call me once you're done?"

"No pressure then." Chelsea deadpanned before passing Sophia her phone, once Sophia had added her phone number to Chelsea's contacts she sped off. _"Step one, find the demonic possessed duelist on a motorbike as she rides through Duelist Kingdom, how hard can that be?" _Chelsea thought as she sped off.

*later*

It took Chelsea half an hour to find Jenny but she had used that time wisely, using it as an excuse to get used to riding her motorbike through a forested area and by the time she had found Jenny in a clearing she was adept at handling the bike.

"So, the lamb has come for the slaughter." The demon spoke through Jenny's mouth as it sat upon the bike. "Do you realize where we are?"

"Should I know this place?" Chelsea asked as she looked around the area, once she confirmed that it looked like just another clearing to her she focused her attention on Jenny. _"No helmet or protective gear of any kind, if it wasn't obvious before that this guy doesn't care about the people he possesses, it is now."_

"Our starting point is in the very area where Yugi Moto defeated Weevil Underwood to claim his first star chips." The demon explained as he had Jenny rev up the bike. "And I will take you on a guided tour of the island before I crush you!"

"Do I look like a fucking tourist?!" Chelsea demanded as her eyes narrowed. "Let her go or I will personally come down to hell and beat the shit out of you!"

"You can certainly try Cunningham." The demon responded before he started riding off. "I don't need to explain the rules of a riding duel to you, do I?"

"Practically all of my duels since I hit the pro-leagues have been riding duels." Chelsea responded as she started her motorbike again and sped off after Jenny as Speed World 2 came into play. "In fact, let's make things a bit more interesting." Chelsea added as she accessed her Spotify playlist.

"What are you…." The demon trailed off as "Rhythm to my Madness" by Dust Bolt started to play through Chelsea's d-wheel's speakers. "Music?"

"Yep, courtesy of my Spotify playlist." Chelsea responded with a big grin on her face as they sped around the forest. "Because I need a kickass soundtrack if I'm going to kick your ass!"

"Out of all the humans I've faced, you are certainly the most unique." The demon responded as he made Jenny sweat-drop. "And just for that, I will go first." The demon added as he looked over the cards in Jenny's hand whilst the two women's speed counters went up to one apiece. "I set two cards facedown and I summon the Demonic Priest!" The demon announced as he made Jenny play the cards and a demon in priest's robes appeared on the field next to Jenny's bike (4/1800/1200). "That ends my turn."

"_And now I don't know whether to put some Judas Priest or Behemoth on." _Chelsea thought as she drew her card and their speed counters went up to two. _"What do you think Wattchimera?"_

"_I think you should concentrate more on where your going, unless you want your face to have an intimate meeting with a tree." _Wattchimera responded as he appeared next to Chelsea's bike and Chelsea sweat-dropped. _"As for the music, if you insist on playing it, leave it on Shuffle Play and focus on the duel."_

"_Good idea." _Chelsea responded as she looked over her hand, "I set two cards facedown and I summon Wattcobra!" Chelsea announced as she played the cards and the small multicolored snake appeared next to her bike (4/1000/500). "And now to draw first blood! Wattcobra, attack her life-points directly!" Chelsea commanded and the snake leapt towards Jenny…...

"I don't think so!" The demon responded as the drum intro to "Combat Shock" by Warbringer started to blast through the area. "I activate my trap card Hellish Rebuke! It destroys your Cobra and inflicts damage equal to it's attack to your life-points!"

"SHIT!" Chelsea yelled out as fires consumed Wattcobra and burned away at her bike bringing her life-points down to 7000 and she lost her first Speed Counter. "So much for first blood going to me, it's your move!"

"I draw." The demon responded as he drew his card and looked over Jenny's hand whilst Jenny gained a slight lead with three Speed Counters to Chelsea's two. "Let's not waste any time, Demonic Priest, attack her life-points directly!" The demon commanded and the priest charged forward towards Chelsea…...

"I was hoping to save this for later in the duel." Chelsea admitted as her facedown card flipped up. "But I activate Call of the Haunted to bring back Wattcobra from my graveyard!" Chelsea added as the small snake returned to the field just as I, Calligula by Ex Deo started to play. "Feel free to try again." Chelsea added as the Demonic Priest backed away from her.

"Okay, I will! Demonic Priest, attack her snake!" The demon responded as the demon resumed his charge towards Chelsea this time aiming for her snake.

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news but my Negate Attack Trap Card says otherwise." Chelsea responded as her trap card flipped up. "As for what it does…"

"I know what it does, which is why I'm not allowing you to negate my attack and end the battle phase! I activate my Priest's effect! If a counter trap would be activated in response to his attack, that trap will be instantly negated!" The demon responded as the priest slashed through Chelsea's trap just as "Pleasure to Kill" by Kreator started to play. "And that's not all he's destroying, continue your attack!" The demon commanded and the priest slashed the snake bringing Chelsea's life-points down to 6200.

"_Well, there goes that plan." _Chelsea thought as she steadied her bike. "I may be behind on life-points, but it won't take me long to bounce back."

"That's where your wrong." The demon responded as his second trap card flipped up just "Amen and Attack" by Powerwolf started to play. "My trap card Shield of How instantly negates any and all direct attacks, you are helpless."

"Do you know who your talking too?" Chelsea asked with a scoff as she looked over her hand as Amen and Attack continued to play for a bit before it faded into Brotherhood of the Snake by Testament. "I've been the Illinois Regional Champion since my rookie year and every year my latest challengers try to come up with a new way to counter my Watts, every single one of them has failed and you'll be no different!" Chelsea added as Jenny turned her bike down a path out of the forest and down the coastline.

"I will take pride in being the first." The demon responded before Jenny motioned to the coast. "And soon, we will be in the area where Yugi Moto did battle with Mako Tsunami."

"You mean the duel where Yugi had his monster attack his own Spell Card?" Chelsea deadpanned as she glanced over at the coast. "No matter how many times I read his biography I'll never understand how Yugi did that!"

"Whatever, I end my turn with a facedown card." The demon responded and Chelsea drew her card as their speed counters went up to four for Jenny and three for Chelsea.

"_I gotta turn this around." _Chelsea thought as "A Vow To Conquer The Ocean" by In Mourning started to play. _"I swear my Spotify Playlist has a weird sense of humor sometimes!" _Chelsea thought before looking at her drawn card and immediately played it. "I activate Speed Spell – Angel Baton! Now I give up my three Speed Counters to draw three cards and discard one!" Chelsea announced before she drew her three cards and discarded one. _"This should do it." _Chelsea thought with a grin before setting her two drawn cards. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

"That's it? Pity!" The demon responded as he drew his card just as he made Jenny turn away from the coast and more towards the inland. "How long is this damn song anyway?!" The demon demanded as their speed counters went ip to five for Jenny and one for Chelsea.

"Hey sometimes epic music needs to be long!" Chelsea retorted before glancing at her phone. "And if you must know, this song's seven minutes and twelve seconds long."

"The sooner I defeat this insolent human the better! I summon Demonic Cleric!" The demon announced as he played the card and a demon in plate armor appeared on the field ready for battle (4/1500/1200). "And you are in for a world of pain!"

"Not if my trap card has anything to say about it, I activate Wattcancel!" Chelsea responded as her trap card flipped up. "Since you just summoned a monster, this trap card allows me to negate the summon and destroy your monster in exchange for sending a Watt monster from my hand to the graveyard!" Chelsea added as she discarded a monster and Demonic Cleric shattered. "Better luck next time!" Chelsea added as they neared the cave entrance.

"I would take you into the cave and tell you about the arena of lost souls and the labyrinth but it's likely that we'd never get out." The demon said as he spun Jenny's bike around. "And having two of my possessed bodies starve to death isn't conducive to my plan! Demonic Priest, attack her life-points directly and finish what you started last turn and attack her life-points directly!" The demon commanded and the priest charged towards Chelsea…...

"Did you really think it'd be that easy!? I activate my trap cad Light from Beyond!" Chelsea announced as her trap card flipped up depicting the stereotypical light at the end of the tunnel. "And before you get your panties in a bunch about your priest's ability, this isn't a counter trap but what it does is allow me to Special Summon one Light Type Monster from my graveyard, he can't attack this turn but since it's your turn that's a non-issue!"

"Fine, bring back your pathetic snake so I can strike it down again." The demon sneered only to be surprised when Wattcentaur appeared in the Demonic Priest's path (6/2400/1200). "I never destroyed that!"

"Your right, you didn't, I discarded Wattcentaur here for Wattcancel's effect." Chelsea responded as the centaur raced alongside her bike as "Enter the Grave" by Evile started to play. "Normally I could have him attack you directly by cutting his attack points in half, but your trap card means I'll have to settle for destroying your priest instead!"

"Take your turn!" The demon sneered and Chelsea drew her card just as her speed counters went up to two and Jenny's went up to six.

"I activate Speed Spell – Overboost! For the rest of the turn my speed counters increase by six but during the end phase, they will drop to one." Chelsea announced before she overtook Jenny. "What's the view like back there?" Chelsea asked as the two women turned a corner.

"It was better without you obscuring my view!" The demon responded as Chelsea grinned as they reached a hilly area. "And we have reached the point where Rex Raptor was defeated by Joey Wheeler…..."

"Earning Joey his Red-Eyes Black Dragon, I've read Joey's auto-biography as well!" Chelsea responded before she slowed down. "And now I give up seven of my counters to draw another card." Chelsea added as her speed counters dropped to one and she drew her card. "Why are you doing this?"

"You want to know why I'm possessing duelists competing at this tournament?" The demon asked as Chelsea added the card to her hand and Chelsea shook her head.

"No, well, okay that too, but why are you acting as a tour guide for Duelist Kingdom?" Chelsea asked as a massive sweat-drop rolled down her head. "Surely one of Sophia's rent-a-cops would be better suited to this?"

"Why not?" The demon asked and Chelsea frowned.

"That's all I'm going to get out of you on this topic, isn't it?" Chelsea asked and the demon nodded as "Twilight of the Thunder God" by Amon Amarth started to play. "Fine by me! I summon Wattbull!" Chelsea announced as she played the card and the large multi-colored bull appeared on the field (4/1300/1000). "Attack his life-points directly!"

"Weren't you listening before?" The demon asked as he motioned to Shield of Hell whilst Wattbull charged towards Jenny's bike. "My trap card will negate the attack…..."

"And by negating the attack, Wattbull's effect will activate destroying all face-up trap cards you control!" Chelsea responded and the demon's eyes widened as "Kickstart my Heart" by Motley Crue started to play. _"Why do I have this on my playlist? I hate Motley Crue!" _Chelsea thought as Wattbull smashed through the trap card destroying it. "This would leave me open to use Wattcentaur's effect as I already described it but frankly, I'm sick of looking at that priest! Wattcentaur, attack his priest!" Chelsea commanded and the centaur charged forward before smashing into Demonic Priest destroying him and bringing Jenny's life-points down to 7400.

"So, you finally drew first blood!" The demon responded as they returned to the forested area. "I still have the lead and now I can activate my trap card A Toll is Due!" The demon added as the trap card flipped up. "I pay two thousand life-points but in exchange I can draw one card for each card that was destroyed this turn."

"Wouldn't really be my first choice against a Watt duelist, just saying." Chelsea pointed out as Jenny's speed counters dropped to four and her life-points dropped to 5400 before she drew two cards. "Then again, I have to wonder why I'm giving you advice." Chelsea added as "Fucking Hostile" by Pantera started to play. _"That's much more like it!" _Chelsea thought as a broad grin spread across her face. "It's your move."

"I draw!" The demon announced as he made Jenny draw a card whilst Chelsea's speed counters went up to two and Jenny's went up to four. "I set a card facedown and I summon Whoracle!" The demon announced as he played the card and a young woman dressed in a revealing version of the classic oracle outfit appeared on the field.

And then pulled down her face mask to reveal a hideous set of fangs (1/0/0). "To think, I was about to thank you for the eye candy!" Chelsea deadpanned as she glared at the new monster. "But aside from sharing the name of my favorite In Flames album, she doesn't have much going for her!"

"Why do you care? Watt Monsters are only good for attacking the opponent directly!" The demon retorted as it glanced over at Chelsea. "I activate Speed Spell – Demonic Power! I give up every remaining speed counter I have to give Whoracle that many attack points!" The demon added and Chelsea's eyes widened as Whoravle's attack power went up to 4000. "And as long as I have at least one Demonic creature in my graveyard, he can attack directly!"

"_This is definitely going to hurt in the morning!" _Chelsea thought before remembering something. "You'll have to take a rain check on that!" Chelsea announced as she retrieved a card from her graveyard and Electromagnetic Turtle (4/0/18000) appeared in the path of the Whoracle stopping her in her tracks. "During the opponents battle phase, I can remove Electromagnetic Turtle from my graveyard to end the battle phase immediately, and before you ask, I discarded this turtle for Angel Baton!"

"You survived this battle but not the next one." The demon retorted as he picked up two cards. "First I activate my own copy of Overboost!" The demon announced as Jenny's bike sped up. "Now I activate Speed Spell – Relive Battle."

"I've heard of that card." Chelsea realized as her eyes widened. "It's so powerful that Sophia refused to release it to the general public! And considering the cards I have seen released to the public, that's saying something!"

"Indeed, and thanks to this I get to conduct my battle phase again! Whoracle, attack her life-points!" The demon commanded and the Whoracle charged forward before biting into Chelsea's leg and bringing her life-points down to 2200.

The impact nearly caused Chelsea to crash and she closed her eyes for a second, in her mind's eye she saw Beth, her older siblings, her parents and finally Jasmine before she snapped back to reality and steadied her bike with seconds to spare. "Did you really think you'd get rid of me that easily?!" Chelsea demanded as she glared at the demon. "Your talking to the woman who wouldn't stop chasing an education no matter how many schools she was expelled from because of her temper! To me, you're nothing!"

"Insolence! You will learn to learn to fear me! Especially since Whoracle's attack points will stick around!" The demon snapped at her and Chelsea's eyes narrowed. "Make your final move!" The demon commanded and Chelsea drew her card.

"_I'm no longer religious but still, I can't help but think that this is repentance for cheating on Beth earlier." _Chelsea thought as she took a deep breath. _"If that is the case, then the only way I can really repent is to win this duel and free Jenny of the demon's control." _Chelsea thought as her Speed Counters went up to one and Jenny's went up to two and she drew her card, just as she did "I Am The Antidote" by Lost Society started to play as they went further into the forest. "If that's not a good sign I don't know what is."

"What are you talking about?!" The demon demanded as Chelsea looked at her drawn card.

"This song is called "I Am The Antidote", it's by a band from Finland called Lost Society." Chelsea explained as her grin broadened. "But that's not the important part, for me it symbolizes the fact that you are poisoning Jenny by possessing her and I am the antidote to that poison!"

"What the hell do you mean?!" The demon demanded and Chelsea's grin grew wider.

"What I mean is, I'm about to win this duel! Wattcentaur, Wattbull, attack her directly!" Chelsea commanded and her two monsters, once Wattcentauir's attack had dropped to 1200 through its effect, charged forward before slamming into Jenny and bringing her life-points down to 2900. "You are still in the lead but that won't last!"

"Will it? I activate Damage Gate to summon another Whoracle!" The demon announced as he played the card and another Whoracle appeared on the field. "And Demonic Power's effect applies to all creatures with that name!" The demon added as Whoracle's attack power went up to four thousand.

"So your going for the overkill route, am I right?" Chelsea asked and the demon nodded whilst making Jenny grin sadistically. "I set one card facedown and end my turn!" Chelsea announced as her facedown card appeared on the field and the demon drew his card just as their speed counters went up to one.

"This is over! Whoracle, finish it!" The demon commanded and the first Whoracle charged towards Chelsea.

"As I said, I am the antidote." Chelsea responded as her facedown card flipped up. "And here's the vaccine! I activate my trap card Dimension Wall!"

"No!" The demon yelled out as the Whoracle struck the wall of energy sending a beam of light at Jenny and bringing her life-points down to zero. "You saved my latest victim, or did you?"

"What do you…..." Chelsea trailed off before it hit her like a ton of bricks. "When you go, the bike goes too!"

"Exactly!" The demon responded before the bike disappeared beneath Jenny's legs.

"No!" Chelsea yelled out as Jenny barely had time to react before she crashed to the ground and tumbled, Chelsea could only watch in horror as Jenny crashed back first against a tree finally coming to a stop and dropping to the ground unconscious. "Shit! Why didn't I think of this!" Chelsea cussed herself as she stopped her d-wheel and immediately got off her bike.

"_You had no way of preventing that." _Wattchimera responded as Chelsea grabbed her phone and paused the playlist. _"Best you can do is call Sophia!"_

"Right!" Chelsea nodded as she ran up to Jenny's unconscious form and knelt down next to it as she waited for Sophia to answer.

"Chelsea, I'm guessing you've got good news?" Sophia's voice rang out and Chelsea shook her head.

"Good and bad, the good news is I won the duel." Chelsea explained as she looked over Jenny's unconscious form. "Bad news is, when I defeated the demon, he took the bike with him causing Jenny to crash, I'm no medical expert but it looks really bad, she crashed against a tree back first."

"I see." Sophia responded but Chelsea could tell from her tone of voice that she was as devastated as Chelsea was. "I converted one of the hallways into an infirmary, send me a picture of your location and I'll have medics on the scene ASAP."

"Sure, but that's not a real hospital setting, is it?" Chelsea pointed out and Sophia nodded on the other end.

"Believe me, I know, it was to treat minor wounds, nothing like the crash you just described, I'll have Domino City Hospital send an air ambulance as soon as they can." Sophia responded and Chelsea let out a deep breath. "Don't worry about the next session, I'll work something out, are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, nearly crashed at one point but I regained my balance." Chelsea assured her before letting out a deep sigh. "At least psysically, don't think I need to say how I am emotionally, me and Jenny didn't exactly get off to a good start, understandable reasons or not, but I hate seeing a fellow duelist get hurt like that, especially when they are only a few years younger than me."

"I don't blame you, according to her file she had turned twenty one just before the tournament began." Sophia explained and Chelsea felt like a heavyweight boxed had just punched her in the gut when she heard that. "Chelsea?"

"I'll go into detail later but I got into a motorcycle crash when I was her age." Chelsea explained before removing her helmet. "Only thing that saved my life was the protective gear I had on but Jenny didn't have any, if the worst comes to pass, I don't know how I could live with myself."

"I understand completely Chelsea but it's out of our hands." Sophia responded and Chelsea let out a deep breath. "We'll talk more at the castle."

"Off course." Chelsea responded before Sophia hung up, Chelsea wasted no time in taking the picture and sat down next to Jenny's unconscious body. _"No protective gear, even before the crash she would've been fucked." _Chelsea thought as she looked the younger woman over. _"She's barely older than I was when I had my crash, but I had my protective gear on which saved my life." _Chelsea thought as she felt the tears well up. _"Worse part is, it's all my fault!" _Chelsea thought she started crying her eyes out.


	31. Crash and Burn

In reality, Chelsea had been sitting next to Jenny's unconscious body for fifteen minutes crying her eyes out over the aftermath of the duel but to Chelsea, it felt like she had been in there a lot longer by the time the medics arrived alongside Sophia, Chelsea finally looked up when she heard Sophia clear her throat and was thankful that her tears had long since dried up and that she didn't really make a habit of going overboard with make-up either.

"I can't even begin to imagine what's going through your head Chelsea." Sophia greeted her as she offered Chelsea a hand, Chelsea took it and Sophia pulled her back up to her feet. "She's in good hands, the infirmary isn't equipped to handle injuries like hers but the doctor in charge has years of experience and that's not even counting the experience of the doctors at Domino City Hospital." Sophia added and Chelsea nodded as she glanced over at Jenny being escorted away on a stretcher. "As for the air ambulance, once I described the nature of the crash to them, they sent one over right away, should be here in no time."

"Good, at least she'll be in a good hands." Chelsea responded as she folded her arms before taking a deep breath. "Frankly I'm feeling too emotionally drained to compete in the next session, like I said before, I was in a crash like hers when I was her age but whilst my protective gear saved my life, I still hurt like hell afterwards." Chelsea added before taking a deep breath. "That's what worries me most, the demon never even considered giving her any protective gear, she may as well have been dueling in a bikini for all the good it did her."

"I watched the crash on the CCTV camera before I left the castle, I made sure to call Jenny's parents and they are flying in from Scotland." Sophia nodded in understanding as she let out a deep breath. "I have to agree with you Chelsea, from what I could see, Jenny would be lucky if she was paralyzed from the crash."

"And in this sport, that would mean the end of her career as a duelist." Chelsea responded as she lowered her head. ""I know I said that I wouldn't know what to do with myself if the worst came to pass and that goes double for her paralyzed."

"I can understand you feeling guilty over inadvertently causing that crash, even as someone who's never ridden a motorbike before that was difficult to watch so I can't even imagine how bad it was for you." Sophia responded before shaking her head. "But from what I could see, there was nothing you could've done."

"Don't you think I know that?" Chelsea asked as she took a deep breath. "There was only one scenario I could think off, me pulling up alongside her bike and pulling her off, but even taking away the possibility of me crashing my own bike by trying that stunt, we're not talking about a small child here, we're talking about a woman who's only a couple of years younger than me, I work out, I go to the gym and I do lift weights but even I'm not that strong."

"I understand feeling guilty but playing What If scenarios in your head won't do you any good." Sophia responded before motioning for Chelsea to follow her. "Detectives from Domino Cities' police department will want a word with you as you were the only witness to the crash, they'll be here within the hour."

"Oh, great." Chelsea grunted as she folded her arms and Sophia gave her a confused look. "I've only ever spoken the police about something that directly involved me once, when I was fifteen."

"You mean when you were arrested for assault?" Sophia asked and Chelsea nodded. "You don't have to worry about anything like that, from what I could see from CCTV, you shouldn't face any legal charges, whether or not Jenny's family sues you is another matter."

"It's a good thing that my career as a duelist has allowed me to afford a decent lawyer then." Chelsea responded as she folded her arms. "Then again if Jenny needs any longtime care, I'd be happy to pay for it."

"Might not be necessary, Jenny's family still lives in Scotland and last I checked, the UK still has the NHS." Sophia assured her with a nod as she led the younger woman up the stairs. "Then again, we still don't know the extent of her injuries."

"Remember the crash I mentioned?" Chelsea asked and Sophia nodded once she remembered the conversation. "Like I said, my protective gear saved my life but even with that gear I still have several broken bones, enough to keep me in hospital for a long while."

"I remember, there was talk about whether the title should be vacated during your hospital stay." Sophia nodded after thinking for a minute, "Bet you were glad that you had defended the title before the crash."

"That was the only good thing that came out of it, missing that year's Battle City was not fun." Chelsea nodded as she caught up with the taller woman. "But then again, I didn't come to a sudden stop by slamming against a tree like Jenny, if I did, I probably would've had to vacate the title."

"All we can do now is hope for the best." Sophia responded as she led the younger woman up the stairs. "Bernard will lead you to a side room where the police will chat with you, don't tell the other duelists but I'm delaying the second session until tomorrow and extending the tournament by a week."

"That's going to make a lot of people unhappy, not everyone can do this as their day job." Chelsea pointed out and Sophia nodded.

"I know but once they know why I'm doing it, they should understand." Sophia responded with a nod before the two women returned to the castle.

*later*

By now Jenny had been taken to the mainland to be treated and the other duelists had been informed, Sophia sat alone in her office going over the paperwork associated with extending the tournament time.

"_It's a good thing father chose to host this tournament during the quietest time on the Duel Monsters calendar, at least back then." _Sophia thought as see went through the paperwork. _"Back then Battle City wasn't a thing and the game was just taking off but even now April is generally one of the quieter months in Duel Monsters." _Sophia thought before the door opened and she looked up. "I can't say I'm surprised to get a visit from you."

"It's not everyday that Duelist Kingdom gets visited by an air ambulance and policemen from the mainland." Kaiba responded before sitting down opposite Sophia. "What did the medics say about Jenifer's condition?"

"They could only take an educated guess based on Chelsea's recounting and the CCTV footage, but it was exactly as bad as Chelsea described it." Sophia sighed as she shook her head. "Jenny is considered a rising star in the UK scene in general and not just Scotland, I'd hate to see it derailed by something like this or worse."

"I saw the footage myself and she'll be lucky if she's ever able to walk again." Kaiba nodded grimly before leaning forward. "That said, I think we should at least consider canceling the tournament."

"If only that was so simple." Sophia responded as she shook her head. "But our companies combined spent millions getting this set up and that was on the Virtual World technology alone, then we had to get TSR on board to let us use the Dungeons and Dragons license both in the tournament and the MMO, not to mention all the refunds we'll have to pay out to those who purchased the finals livestream." Sophia responded as her expression darkened. "I don't think I need to explain the rest."

"Indeed, if we cancel the tournament at this critical time our companies will lose millions." Kaiba nodded once he understood what she meant. "And that's before the investors panic, best case scenario? We both lose our jobs as CEOs of I2 and Kaibacorp respectively."

"Worst case? Both companies declare bankruptcy within a year at most, and that comes with its own best/worst case scenarios." Sophia nodded as she took a deep breath. "Best case, our companies merge, and everyone keeps our jobs, and maybe I'll finally tie the knot with Tyler, worst case both companies shut down, thousands of people lose their jobs and our respective products go into limbo." Sophia added as she ran a hand through her hair. "As the tournament organizer my duty is to the safety of the competing duelists but as the I2 CEO my duty is to the bottom line and unfortunately, I have to look at the bigger picture here."

"I knew you'd say that, but we both know what's at stake here." Kaiba nodded in understanding as his frown deepened. "If your company goes bankrupt it won't just affect the lives of the employees, but it'll have ripple effects felt around the world."

"More pro-league duelists than I care to count, management companies that only manage duelists, all the duel academies around the world." Sophia nodded as her expression turned grim. "All gone in an instant, it'd make The Great Depression look like a major economic upturn by comparison."

"All the more reason for this tournament to be a success." Kaiba nodded in agreement. "How is Cunningham handling all this?"

"About as well as you'd expect, as controversial as she is Chelsea is a still good person and seeing someone only a couple of years younger than her get injured that badly wrecked her emotionally." Sophia explained as she leaned forward. "I've known her since her Duel Academy days, yet I had never seen her that emotionally drained before, and I doubt the chat with the cops helped matters either, what with her juvenile record."

"Given what I've seen of the crash, it should go without incident." Kaiba nodded before his expression turned grim. "There was one other reason I came in here."

"And judging from the look on your face, it wasn't to see my pretty face." Sophia deadpanned before Kaiba placed his phone on her desk, Sophia blinked before picking it up and doing a double take. "Is this accurate?" Sophia asked as she glanced up at her business partner. "Max Stevens was found dead at his home?"

"It is, I checked several other news sites that cover the Chicago area and they are all covering it." Kaiba responded as Sophia zoomed in on the headline to get a better look.

The headline only managed to raise more questions: "Former Illinois Regional Champion Max Stevens found dead at home in apparent suicide?" Sophia read the headline out loud as she read it over and over before scrolling down. "They found him hanging by his belt in his bathroom after we were forced to let him go following his attempt on my life?" Sophia asked with a suspicious look on her face. "That can't be a coincidence, Max had no known history of depression or suicide attempts."

"I was thinking the same thing." Kaiba nodded in agreement before Sophia passed him back his phone. "But it's not like celebrity suicides are rare."

"True, except he was a washed up duelist who never made it out of the Regionals." Sophia responded with a frown on her face. "Aside from us, I doubt there are many people outside of the Illinois area who have even heard of him, hell Chelsea was the one to dethrone him, but I doubt she remembers him that well."

"Even if she doesn't remember him it doesn't make his suicide any less tragic." Kaiba pointed out and Sophia nodded in agreement. "But that's if it was a suicide."

"If your about to say that he was murdered, well without any proof we can't say otherwise." Sophia nodded in agreement as she shifted her weight. "But it seems too coincidental to me, Max was flown back to Chicago yesterday and it's a fourteen hour flight, even taking time zone difference into account, that doesn't leave a lot of time between the events that led to his death."

"True but given how low he was on the totem poll in the Illinois scene, I doubt they will consider the investigation a priority." Kaiba nodded before he passed over his phone which had had another news story on it. "He had one next of kin, a younger sister." Kaiba added and Sophia picked up the phone.

"Cassandra "Cassy" Stevens, first year student at North Academy." Sophia noted as she read the News Article. "Says here that she was granted leave from North Academy to fly back to Chicago and identify the body, she's only sixteen why is she being burdened with that responsibility?"

"The article explains that further down but to summarize, their parents died when Max was twelve and she was seven, no other surviving family." Kaiba explained as his frown deepened. "I can only imagine what's going through her head."

"And yet Max commits suicide out of the blue even though he knows that'll leave his sister with no family?" Sophia asked with a skeptical look on her face. "Speaking as someone who was in a similar situation when my birth parents died, if I had a younger or older sibling suicide would be the last thing on my mind!"

"Agreed, I'll keep digging and I suggest that you get Jade on it as well." Kaiba responded before he stood up. "I have to rearrange some things to accommodate our new plans for the tournament."

"You and every other competing duelist." Sophia nodded in agreement before Kaiba left her office. _"Demonic possessions, one duelist with bi-polar disorder whose mental health is getting worse and now a duelist is potentially crippled for life just as their career was taking off." _Sophia thought with a sigh as she leaned back in her chair and looked at the ceiling before throwing her hands up. _"For the next anniversary, I'm just going to release a legacy set or something along those lines!"_

*meanwhile*

Chelsea had not spoken to the police much in her adult life, the last time was when she was attacked after retaining the Illinois Regional Championship just a few weeks earlier but that was quick and easy compared to the talk she was about to have.

"Okay, Ms. Cunningham, I understand that you are upset over what happened to that other duelist, but this has to be done." The policeman assured Chelsea as she made herself comfortable opposite the two male officers. "Ms. McQuaid is on her way to the mainland as we speak, she'll be in good hands at Domino City Hospital."

"That's good to know, still feel like crap for accidentally causing the crash." Chelsea sighed as she leaned forward on the desk. "Should I just start from the beginning or just cut to the chase?"

"Start from the beginning, we need as much information as we can get for our reports." The younger off the two officers responded and Chelsea sighed.

"It was right after dinner and there was still time before the next session, so I headed out of the castle for some fresh air." Chelsea stated as the two officers took notes. "Turns out I wasn't the only one with that idea, Sophia and Jenny where at the bottom of the steps to the castle talking, well Sophia was talking, Jenny was ignoring her whilst having a cigarette, either way she was being rude to both me and Sophia and Sophia told me that she was frustrated over being eliminated from the tournament."

"I see." The older officer nodded as he took down his notes. "What happened next?"

"Me and Sophia were talking among ourselves when Jenny suddenly screamed in pain, we realized to late that she was being possessed by a demon." Chelsea stated before shaking her head. "I know this has to sound crazy to you guys."

"Not at all, this is a crazy world in general." The younger officer assured her, and Chelsea nodded. "We often had to take in unconscious Orichalcos Duelists from when they were assaulting Duel Academy."

"I probably contributed to that at some point." Chelsea responded as she shook her head. "Back on topic, the demon summoned a bike from out of nowhere and basically challenged anyone in the castle to a riding duel, as an experienced speed duelist who had my bike on the island I accepted." Chelsea added as she took a deep breath. "I won the duel but Jenny lost more than just the duel, the demon took the bike away whilst she was riding it and that led to the crash, I was in a similar crash when I was her age but there was one major difference."

"Yes, Sophia mentioned this when she called dispatch." The older officer said as he checked his notes. "Your protective gear saved your life?"

"Essentially yeah, I had just gotten my bike license and felt invincible, enough to try some stupid stunts in traffic." Chelsea explained as she ran a hand through her hair. "I wasn't watching where I was going and a car didn't see me until it was too late, I woke up hurting like hell in a hospital bed surrounded by my older siblings, all five of them, somehow managing to combine a look of concern with a look of "what were you thinking?"." Chelsea explained with a sigh. "I spent a few months in hospital and my first motorbike was trashed but my protective gear saved me from my injuries being much worse, Jenny didn't have that luxury."

"I think we got everything we needed here." The older police officer said as they stood up. "Based on everything we know, you are unlikely to be charged with anything, whether Jenny's family will sue you is another matter."

"Even if they did, I'd just try to get it settled out of court as soon as I could anyway." Chelsea nodded before she watched the two officers leave. _"Well, I'll admit that the younger officer was kinda cute at least, if I wasn't gay and taken, I'd probably ask for his number." _Chelsea thought with a chuckle before she stood up. _"At least that went a lot better than when I spoke to the police after my arrest."_

"_That arrest was for assault." _Wattchimera reminded her and Chelsea gave her spirit a death glare as he appeared next to her. _"This was for a crash that was beyond your control, you had nothing to worry about."_

"_I know, and thanks for the reminder." _Chelsea thought with a grunt as she left the room. _"Then again, considering I broke Ray's nose in front of an auditorium full of witnesses and video evidence, the interview was basically a formality." _Chelsea thought as she went back to her room.

*elsewhere in the castle*

Once Jade had received her instructions from Sophia, she had gotten straight to work in figuring out the mystery behind Max's apparent suicide, and she wasn't alone.

"Remember when this was going to be just another tournament?" Jade wondered as the Australian woman typed away at her Alienware laptop whilst Raven watched on from the side. "Albeit one with the Virtual World gimmick?"

"Jade, you know as well as I do that Duel Monster tournaments that go exactly as planned are the exception, rather than the rule." Ravel responded as the Polish Woman shook her head. "Even so, since the Orichalcos Incident there has been less magical activity at tournaments."

"That's exactly what I meant." Jade responded as she spun her chair around to face Raven. "We both know that after Chloe put the Orichalcos to rest five years ago Sophia was waiting for some new evil to fill in the power vacuum left by Victor and his cronies but five years passed and no new evil popped up, not even at the Battle City that immediately followed Victor's defeat." Jade added as took a moment to fix her ponytail. "Hell, she contacted you to investigate a leak at I2's Corporate HQ whilst she was at Duel Academy for that group's graduation duels."

"And your still mad that you weren't on Sophia's Rader at the time, then again you were just an East Academy Student at the time." Raven commented dryly and Jade shook her head.

"All I'm saying is that I could've gotten the job done in half the time it took you and I wasn't as good with computers back then as I am now." Jade pointed out before she turned her attention back to the laptop. "No offense intended of course, whatever happened to the leak anyway?"

"Sophia let it slide because both parties knew that he was going to be retiring soon." Raven explained as she moved towards Jade's desk. "And in defiance of the old movie cliché, the leak wasn't found dead moments later."

"Your thinking of "One Day Removed from Retirement", not "about to retire anyway", though honestly I'm surprised Sophia let him retire with his pension." Jade commented as she glanced up at the shorter woman. "Considering the lengths, she went to in order to keep this whole thing a secret from the dueling world until she knew that it was ready for prime time, I would've expected her to fire him without his pension."

"The man was an old friend of the family, he did sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement on his way out however." Raven explained as she folded her arms and Jade nodded. "However, that did lead to Rachel being hired as his replacement as the lead technician on this project."

"Hired literally after graduation from MIT if I remember correctly, I only wish I could see the looks on her classmates' faces." Jade nodded with a chuckle as she typed away at her laptop. "We're getting off topic, the reason we're in here is to figure out whether Max really committed suicide or not."

"Unfortunately, there's only so much we can do from here." Raven responded as she got her phone out. "Fortunately, I know someone who can help us."

"It's not that Charles guy, right?" Jade asked with a raised eyebrow. "I still can't believe she plucked a guy out from accounting to be your cameraman just because he has a side job as a photographer."

"Charles is back in accounting, based on what he told me he has no intention of traveling anywhere for quite some time." Raven responded as she shook her head. "Traveling back and forth from Domino City and America so much in one week made him homesick I guess."

"Or maybe the guy just doesn't like flying and by the time he found out, it was too late to back out." Jade suggested with a shrug before Raven went out to the balcony in Jade's room to make her call, when Jade heard her companion speaking in Polish, she shook her head and focused on her work. _"The guy she's contacting either speaks limited English or is better at Polish, either way I have a job to do." _Jade thought as she continued to do her work.

"You will find out soon, my child." The demonic voice rang out in Jade's head and she froze. "That there is no hiding from me."

"Jade?" Raven asked and Jade looked up not realizing how much time had passed. "Did you find something?"

"Huh? Oh, no, I was daydreaming." Jade responded as she shook her head and Raven raised an eyebrow before the Australian woman resumed her work. _"God, I hope this doesn't lead to me being possessed! That looked painful enough for the other victims!"_

*later*

By now the air ambulance was well on it's way back to the mainland with Jenny and the policemen that had interviewed Chelsea were on their way back to the mainland as well leaving the duelists who were still competing with some time to mull over what had transpired.

"_On one hand, I'm glad that that interview with the police went a lot better than the one that led to my arrest all those years ago." _Chelsea thought as she surfed the internet on her laptop, as best she could tell, news of the crash had yet to reach the mainland though she had been talking with her older siblings and her parents about what had happened and they all said the same thing, that it wasn't her fault and the best she could do was pray for Jenny. _"Pray for her? Yeah, right, did they forget that I'm atheist nowadays?"_

"_You can still send her positive vibes." _Wattchimera reminded Chelsea as her duel spirit appeared next to her. _"And I know you've been debating pulling out of the tournament to go visit her."_

"_Briefly debating that option." _Chelsea corrected him as she leaned back in her chair. _"But I am the Illinois Regional Champion, and this is my first major tournament since I defended the title against Rodney Flannigan three weeks ago, if I pull out now then what does that say about the Illinois scene in general?"_

"_True, though I have to say it is amusing that your suddenly so concerned about PR." _Wattchimera responded and Chelsea rolled her eyes knowing where this was going. _"Didn't you tell Brad to fire the PR firm at the championships?"_

"_The same PR Firm that unironically gave me the "Shock Rock Chick" moniker and shot down all my suggestions for a better nickname." _Chelsea responded as she shook her head in disbelief. _"Iron Maiden? Do you want to be sued? Heavy Metal Thunder is too unspecific, and those were my best ones." _Chelsea thought as she leaned her head back and linked her hands behind her head. _"I swear at this rate I may as well give starting my own PR Firm a go!"_

"_Except you have no experience in running a business." _Wattchimera pointed out and Chelsea scoffed.

"_That's what online classes are for." _Chelsea responded before there was a knock at the door and she glanced up at the door was Wattchimera disappeared from her side. "I'm decent!" Chelsea called out and the door opened. "Hey Chloe." Chelsea greeted her old friend as the shorter woman entered the room. "Do I even need to ask what brings you here?"

"I guess it is kind of obvious." Chloe nodded in agreement as she walked over to her old roommate. "Any word on Jenny yet?"

"She left for the mainland via an air ambulance about…" Chelsea trailed off before grabbing her phone to check the time. "Twenty minutes ago, I know it takes half a day to reach the mainland by boat so by helicopter it should be a lot quicker."

"Yeah, hopefully." Chloe nodded before sighing. "How are you feeling though? Sophia said that you were the only witness to the crash."

"Too emotionally drained to even think about dueling, I should be good to go for the next session though." Chelsea responded with a sigh as she shifted her weight. "The worst part was that she only came to a stop after crashing back first against a tree but she was tumbling for a good minute and a half at least before she came to a stop, I couldn't do anything to prevent it without putting my own health at risk and the fact that she wasn't wearing any protective gear didn't help matters."

"One would think that this demon would take care of the people it possesses." Chloe commented as she folded her arms. "I know the crash happened after the duel, but the no protective gear thing makes no sense to me."

"It's not liked the demon would've had to go overboard either." Chelsea commented earning a curious look from Chloe. "Speaking from my experience as a riding duelist and motorcyclist in general, with a bike helmet your halfway there already as they protect your head and even then, you're better off getting a certified helmet for safety reasons, clothing wise? Well, starting from the jacket, anything that's denim or leather will do nicely as long as it's not flapping, underneath the jacket you can basically get away with a t-shirt or something similar, stick some jeans and boots on your lower half and your basically good to go."

"Your really well versed in this." Chloe commented and Chelsea shrugged her shoulders.

"I learned all of this when I was getting my bike license, saved my life more than once." Chelsea explained with a nod before glancing over her outfit. "Then again, I wasn't really that well protected either, my battle jacket is too flappy to wear on my bike, I was just asking for trouble by wearing it open with a crop top on underneath and, well, my legs would've been protected by my jeans at least." Chelsea sighed as she turned to face Chloe. "But on the other hand, I didn't expect to get in a riding duel during this tournament due to the nature of it and my management company flew in my D-Wheel without my knowledge."

"I have seen deck masters with abilities related to riding duels so there might still be encounters with those scenarios in mind." Chloe commented and Chelsea nodded as she got the idea. "The monsters were what you'd expect really, Chaosrider Gustaph, Stygian Street Patrol, even monsters that have four legs."

"Might have to look into Wattcentaur, see if that has any Deck Master abilities like that." Chelsea commented before shaking her head. "We're getting off topic, but I do appreciate you stopping by."

"Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised if the others pay you a visit either, they were all worried about you." Chloe responded with a nod and Chelsea grinned. "Lance would've come over as well, but he wanted to look into better deck masters than Ultimate Baseball Kid first."

"He still has that thing in his deck?!" Chelsea asked with a dumbfounded look on her face before shaking her head. "It would be one thing if it was a good Fire support card."

"That's what I keep telling him, he still uses Great Angus even after all these years." Chloe commented with a sigh and Chelsea shook her head. "Then again, I'm the girl who still uses Gemini Elf."

"Gemini Elf is still a decent level four beatstick and it's good fodder for any number of Normal Type/Spellcaster Support Cards." Chelsea pointed out and Chloe nodded in agreement. "Kinda surprised that Sophia never released a retrained version of that card, I mean hell Neo The Magic Swordsman got a retrained version but not Gemini Elf?"

"Apparently you can encounter the elves in a duel so maybe that'll prompt Sophia to finally do it." Chloe suggested with a shrug before blushing slightly. "Though the last group that encountered them apparently interrupted them having sex in a lake, buck naked and all."

"I'm beginning to think that I got the wrong group." Chelsea deadpanned getting a laugh out of Chloe. _"And not just because I slept with Kylie earlier." _Chelsea thought before realizing something. "Wait, aren't the Gemini Elves meant to be twins?"

"Nicola said that it was a legacy title and the latest elves to hold the title happened to be a lesbian couple." Chloe shrugged her shoulders whilst Chelsea gave her a funny look. "I'm beginning to think Sophia hired outside writers for the world's storyline who didn't even bother looking up lore and then had her own writers fix their mistakes."

"Gee, you fucking think?!" Chelsea deadpanned before shaking her head. "On one hand I'm always for more LGBTQ representation in video games, what with me being a lesbian and all, on the other hand, it shouldn't interfere with established lore."

"That's why I don't read Lord of the Rings fanfiction." Chloe nodded in agreement and Chelsea let out a slight laugh. "Seriously though, if you need to talk you know where to find me."

"Just like old times." Chelsea grinned before she watched her old roommate leave her room. _"Guess I should've seen the other duelists coming to check up on me coming, or at the very least the ones who know me personally, either from my duel academy days or my reign as Illinois Regional Champ." _Chelsea thought as she turned her attention back to the laptop and woke it up after realizing that it had gone into sleep mode. _"And considering how many countries have duelists representing them in this tournament, I'll be surprised if anyone from outside my party or my graduation class stops by." _Chelsea thought as she took a sip of her coke.

*elsewhere in the castle*

Jade and Raven had left Jade's room for a quick break in between information gathering by that point but they had now returned to their work.

"Feels like I'm spending more time digging up dirt for Sophia than actually dueling." Jade commented with a sigh as the Australian woman sat down in front of the Alienware laptop. "And this is also the most time I've spent with another woman in my bedroom with my clothes on."

"Unsurprising, given that you came out as gay around the same time as Chelsea was making a name for herself on the pro-leagues." Raven shrugged her shoulders as she leaned against the wall. "Though unlike Chelsea, you've never had any sexual interest in men."

"Yeah, my parents tried setting me up with some city boys, but it never worked out," Jade responded as she shook her head. "Especially after I moved into Adelaide."

"Forgive me for asking but isn't Australia notorious for not being friendly to LGBTQ individuals?" Raven asked and Jade shook her head.

"Considering that there are still places in the world that execute people for being gay, not really." Jade responded as she turned to the shorter woman. "If anything, Australia's like America in that sense, some areas are more progressive than others in terms of gay rights and even then, we only legalized gay marriage after America got the jump on it." Jade added before glancing at the picture on her desk. "It was always legal for women, but it took until 1997 for the same to apply to men, never really understood that myself."

"Indeed." Raven nodded before looking at the photo. "She was your first partner, yes?"

"Yeah, Merindah, or Meri as I liked to call her." Jade nodded as she glanced at the picture. "It was a double whammy for her, being aboriginal and a lesbian but we made it work until she…." Jade trailed off before she felt a sharp stinging pain in her head and clutched her head in pain. "Ahh, my head, what…" Jade trailed off again as her eyes widened. "Raven, Nadia, I don't care, you need to get out of here!"

"We both know that's not going to happen." Raven responded as her tone of voice made it clear that she was perfectly aware of what was about to happen. "There's only one way we know to get rid of that demon."

"Yeah, I…." Jade trailed off before she let out a blood curdling scream as the Australian woman was consumed by dark light, Raven remained motionless as her friend and colleague lowered her head briefly as the demon possessed her.

"Did you really think I'd be satisfied with just one possession?" The demon asked through Jade's lips as he made her stand up. "You know the drill by now Nadia."

"Pokonam cie, deomie, a poniewaz. Bog jest moim swiaadkiem uwolnie Jade!" Raven initially spoke in her native Polish before pausing. "Translated from Polish, I will defeat you demon…."

"And as god is my witness, I will free Jade!" The demon interrupted Raven's translation taking the Polish woman aback. "I know how to speak all languages, and god cannot save you now." The demon added before the two women were consumed by a dark light.

*minutes later*

When Raven opened her eyes, she found herself and the demonically possessed Jade in a dark void and it took her a moment to adjust to the lack of light around them.

"Where have you taken us?" Raven demanded as her eyes narrowed. "And the more pertinent question is, why?"

"All will be answered in good time." The demon responded as he made Jade activate her duel disk. "You will both make it out of this void alive, but when I win, I will possess both of your bodies allowing me to get close to Sophia and Kaiba."

"Why not just lead off with this then?" Raven pointed out and the demon paused. "Your other victims were young, regional level duelists at most, in fact before Jade Jenny was the first national level duelist you possessed."

"All will be revealed in due time." The demon responded and Raven frowned in response. "Now activate your duel disk already."

"As you wish." Raven responded as she activated her duel disk and both women drew their opening hands. "I don't know why your going this or why you injured that young duelist earlier but as far as I'm concerned? You will hurt no one else this day!"

"We will see about that, as I'll go first!" The demon responded as he made Jade draw a card. "I activate the Continuous Spell Card Fires of Damnation! From this moment onwards, any Demon Dragon monster I control inflicts piercing damage, such as Demon Dragon Wyvern!" The demon announced as he played the card and a demonic dragon appeared on the field with a roar (4/1800/1200). "It's your move." The demon announced and Raven drew her card.

"_If all that Fires of Damnation does is give monsters piercing damage I'll be surprised." _Raven thought as she added her drawn card to her hand. _"Jade is one of the best dragon duelists I know, and that demon should have access to her memories, in other words he should know about Dragon's Rage." _Raven thought before playing a card. "I activate a Continuous Spell Card of my own, Black Whirlwind! Now when I normal summon a Blackwing Monster I can add another to my hand, I won't keep you in suspense either, I summon Blackwing – Boro the Spear!"

"_Excellent." _The demon thought as the large, spear wielding Blackwing monster appeared on the field (4/1700/800). _"She is playing right into my hand."_

"Through Black Whirlwind's effect I add Blackwing – Gale the Whirlwind to my hand!" Raven explained as she retrieved the card from her deck and added it to her hand. "And as I control a Blackwing Monster other than Gale the Whirlwind I can special summon him!" Raven added as she played the card and the small blue Blackwing monster with the green head appeared on the field (3/1300/400). "Now point in wasting time, I use my two monsters to perform a Synchro Summon!"

"_This is going better than I hoped!" _The demon thought as Raven's two monsters leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon.

"I Synchro Summon Blackwing Armor Master!" Raven announced as she played the card and once the blight flash faded the massive armored Blackwing monster appeared on the field ready for battle (7/2500/1500)). "Armor Master, attack Demon Dragon Wyvern!" Raven commanded and the Blackwing monster took flight before diving right at Demonic Dragon Wyvern…only to be quickly consumed by flames. "What?!"

"Did you really think that all Fires of Damnation did was allow my monsters to inflict piercing damage?" The demon asked mockingly as Raven ended up getting burned as Blackwing Armor Master was destroyed. "When you attack my monster with a level six or higher monster Fires of Damnation automatically destroys it and takes that monster's attack points out of your life points!" The demon added as Raven's life-points dropped to 5500.

"I knew there was more to that Spell Card, why not just use Dragon's Rage if that was all it did." Raven responded once the flames died down and she quickly picked up two cards. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Raven announced as her two facedown cards appeared on the field and the demon drew his card.

"Like you I won't waste time." The demon commented as he motioned to the dragon. "I activate the effect of Demon Dragon Wyvern, as I control him with Fires of Damnation on the field, he can attack twice this turn with his attack power doubled!" The demon added as the wyvern doubled in size and power. "He'll be destroyed during the end phase but there won't be an end phase! Demon Dragon Wyvern, finish this duel!" The demon commanded and the wyvern got ready to breath fire at Raven…...

"You will learn one thing about the women Sophia employs as duelists, we don't go down easily." Raven responded as her facedown card flipped up. "I activate Call of the Haunted to bring back Armor Master!" Raven announced as Blackwing Armor Master returned to the field. "Even if you destroy Armor Master, I won't take damage from this battle."

"We shall see! Demon Dragon Wyvern, your new target is armor master!" The demon commanded and the wyvern turned his attention to Armor Master.

"I activate Synchro Sacrifice!" Raven announced as her other facedown card flipped up. "As you are attacking a Synchro Monster with a stronger monster this trap card automatically destroys both!" Raven added as both monsters shattered into a million pieces. "And as a bonus, the two monsters I used to Synchro Summon Armor Master last turn get shuffled back into my deck." Raven added as she returned both cards to her deck and let it shuffle.

"You survived this turn but not the next, I set two cards facedown and end my turn." The demon announced as he set the two cards and Raven drew her card.

"I activate Allure of Darkness! I banish one Dark Type monster from my hand to draw two cards." Raven announced before she pocketed a card and drew two more cards. "Now I Normal Summon Blackwing – Aluster the South Wind!" Raven announced as she played the card and a small, red pink and yellow bird appeared on the field (4/1300/0). "First Black Whirlwind's effect activates." Raven announced as she started searching through her deck, once she had added the card, she wanted to her hand she continued. "When this monster is normal summoned, I can Special Summon one banished Blackwing monster which is level four or lower, such as Blackwing – Tornado the Reverse Wing!"

"Another Synchro Summon?!" The demon demanded as a large purple Blackwing monster appeared on the field (4/1000/1200). "I know Aluster is a Tuner Monster!"

"Not just yet, I activate the second effect of Synchro Sacrifice from my graveyard banishing it and Blackwing Armor Master to increase the level of one monster I control until the end phase, I chose Aluster!" Raven added as Aluster's level increased to six. "Now I tune my two monsters together!" Raven announced as the two monsters leapt into the air for the Synchro Summon. "You've met Blackwing Armor Master, now meet his evolved form, Blackwing Full Armor Master!" Raven announced as she played the card and a massive Blackwing monster in jet black armor appeared on the field ready for battle (10/3000/3000).

"So, you've summoned something bigger, I'm not scared." The demon scoffed as Blackwing Full Armor Master got ready for battle. "Fires of Damnation will…..."

"Be ineffective." Raven responded and the demon paused. "Blackwing Armor Master can't be destroyed by battle, Blackwing Full Armor Master is unaffected by card effects, Blackwing Full Armor Master, attack his life-points directly!" Raven commanded and the monster took flight before diving right at Jade.

"I summon Battle Fader from my hand to end the battle phase!" The demon announced as he played the card and the small clock like fiend appeared in the path of the much bigger monster (1/0/0). "You won't be rid of me that easily."

"I set one card facedown and end my turn." Raven announced as she set the card and the demon drew his card.

"I activate my Trap Card Demonic Sacrifice." The demon announced as his facedown card flipped up and Battle fader vanished from the field, "I sacrifice Battle Fader to summon two Ancient Demonic Dragons from my deck!" The demon announced as two gigantic demonic dragons appeared on the field looming over Raven (10/5000/3300). "When Demonic Sacrifice is activated all other effects get negated for the rest of the turn."

"Meaning Full Armor Master is no longer immune to effects." Raven nodded as she barely managed to keep her cool. "But you still have to destroy my monster to get to me."

"That's where my other trap card comes in, Demonic Overhaul!" The demon announced as the other trap card flipped up. "This doubles my dragon's attack power until the end of the turn." The demon added as the two dragon's attack powers increased to 10,000. "Your finished, Ancient Demonic Dragon attack Full Armor Master!" The demon commanded and the dragon prepared to breathe fire at Full Armor Master.

"I'm not the one whose finished as Magic Cylinder turns the attack right back at you." Raven responded and the demon's eyes widened as the fire was turned back at him sending his life-points back down to zero as the void around the two women vanished.

*back in Jade's room*

When they returned to Jade's room Jade had to steady herself as she grabbed a hold of her desk chair, Raven rushed over and helped steady Jade as she sat back down.

"How are you feeling?" Raven asked after a few minutes once Jade had regained her composure and the Australian woman let out a deep breath.

"Aside from the splitting headache, I'm fine." Jade responded as she clutched her head in pain. "But there was one benefit to being possessed by that demon, which is not a sentence I ever thought I'd say out loud." Jade added before glancing at the clock. "Midnight?! Wasn't it just after eight o'clock when I was possessed?"

"Time must move slower in that void." Raven nodded as she glanced out the window, "What do you mean?"

"I meant it let me get a sneak peak into the demon's thoughts, don't ask me how but it revealed one thing." Jade added as she raised her head showing a look of horror on her face. "When we've been defeating the demon's possessed duelists, we've been playing right into his hand!"

"What?!" Raven asked and Jade nodded solemnly. "Tell Sophia in the morning, I think we both need a good night's sleep after that duel."

"Agreed." Jade nodded as she turned to her laptop and shut it down. "See you in the morning."

"See you." Raven nodded before she stood up and left the room.

*the next morning over on the mainland*

By this point Jenny's family was well on their way to Domino City from her home in Glasgow, Scotland, but Kenny herself was just waking up in her hospital bed.

"_Fucking hell, is there anything that doesn't hurt?" _Jenny thought as she came to her senses, looking around her body she noticed that most of her upper torso was either bandaged or in a cast. _"What the hell happened to me? The last thing I remember is getting a headache whilst I was getting nagged at by Sophia…..." _Jenny's thoughts trailed off as she tried to move her legs but no matter how hard she tried, they didn't move an inch, as it slowly dawned on her and she realized that her legs weren't in casts she looked around in a frantic state of panic. "What the fuck?! I can't move my legs…..." jenny trailed off as it hit her like a ton of bricks. "I CAN'T MOVE MY LEGS!"


	32. Zero Hour

When Sophia woke up on the third day of the tournament she was expecting a few things, Ariana's daily check-in, Chelsea stopping by to see if there was any updates on Jenny and duelists complaining about the extension were among them, the last thing she expected when she logged into her desktop computer in her room was a call from Domino City hospital.

"Sophia Pegasus? You asked to be kept informed of Jenny's McQuaid's condition?" The doctor asked once she accepted the video call and Sophia nodded expecting the worst. "It's not good news I'm afraid, "Her right collarbone is broken, her other arm is dislocated, broken ulna, which is the forearm bone on the pinky side, multiple broken fingers, three broken ribs and at least one skull fracture." The doctor explained and Sophia nodded as she jotted that information down in her head. "And that's not the worst part."

"Wait, she has more broken bones than I care to count and that's not the worst part?" Sophia asked with a skeptical look on her face and the doctor nodded. "Why do I get the feeling this has to do with the impact against the tree?"

"Essentially yes, she came too this morning and it wasn't long before she complained quite loudly that she couldn't move her legs." The doctor explained and Sophia bit her lip expecting the worst. "I ordered an emergency MRI, the impact against the tree caused severe spinal damage and it appears to have left her paralyzed from the waist down, potentially for the rest of her life." The doctor explained and Sophia lowered her head once it sunk in. "I explained to Jenny and her family that it is possible for her to regain the use of her legs, but it would take months of painful rehab and frankly the broken bones and dislocated arm are a higher priority right now."

"I understand." Sophia nodded as she shifted her weight. "How is she taking the news?"

"It's never easy delivering news like that to a younger patient, especially one who had a bright future ahead of them like Jenny." The doctor explained solemnly, and Sophia sighed. "She's heartbroken to say the least, her family is trying to calm her down saying that everything will be alright but last I saw, it wasn't having much effect." The doctor added and Sophia nodded. "As for recovery time, it's likely that she will be spending a least a year in hospital."

"I see." Sophia nodded as she shifted her weight. "Look, if Jenny needs any expensive treatment done, send the bill to me, she got injured during my tournament and it's the least I can do."

"I will let her family know." The doctor nodded before hanging up and Sophia sighed before standing up.

"_I knew paralyses was going to be a possibility for Jenny after that crash doesn't make the news any less sad." _Sophia thought as she stood up and exited her room. _"If Chelsea does stop by, I will update her, but only if it's obvious that she's in any condition to duel."_

*elsewhere in the castle*

Sophia had woken up earlier compared to the other inhabitants of the castle and as a result most of the duelists were either waking up or still asleep, including one Greek-Iranian duelist.

"_Aside from the mirror incident, yesterday was fairly quiet." _Ariana thought as she lay on her back and stared at the ceiling with her hands behind her head, the nineteen year old had been awake for about twenty minutes but after seeing how early it was, she opted to go back to sleep, or at least try to. _"Didn't even get that much done during the session, though the crash was definitely unfortunate." _Ariana thought before placing her hands by her side. _"Screw it, I need to take my meds anyway, may as well get up."_

"_Don't you wish to remain in bed?"_ The doppelgangers voice rang out and Ariana promptly sat up, however when she tried to move her hands, she realized that they were now chained to the bed.

"What the fu…" Ariana's cuss was cut short when a chain appeared from out of nowhere, wrapped itself around her neck and forcibly pulled her back into the lying position, however the chain wasn't choking her, instead holding her in place as horrific images flashed in front of her eyes. "Let me go!" Ariana cried out as she struggled to get free.

"Not enjoying the show, are we?" The voice of Ariana's doppelganger rang out and sure enough Ariana's double appeared at the foot of the bed which only made Ariana struggle more. "You know how to break this." The doppelganger continued before she climbed into bed and got on top of Ariana as if they were about to have sex. "Join me, and we'll be stronger together!"

"What the hell are you?!" Ariana demanded as she glared at the doppelganger who smirked before leaning in.

"Didn't I tell you before? I'm you, only stronger." She responded before she forcibly kissed Ariana, Ariana was in no position to resist at first as she felt her strength drain away until the double pulled away at which point Ariana headbutted her forcing her to back away. "Still stubborn as ever Ari, but we will meet again."

"Don't call me that!" Ariana growled as she glared at the double. "Only close friends and family call me Ari."

"But that's what we are, isn't it?" The double asked earning a confused look from Ariana. "Or did mother never tell you that she was initially carrying twin sisters?"

"What?!" Ariana demanded as the illusion started to fade. "Your lying, she would've told me if I had a twin sister who died in the womb!"

"If you believe that, then you don't know your mother as well as you thought." The double responded before she vanished, seconds later Ariana found herself free of the illusion's grasp and she sat up.

"_Was that another nightmare?" _Ariana thought as she sat up and looked around. "_No, my wrists and neck hurt from being restrained, at least I'm not going crazy, or crazier."_

"Good morning Ms. Sommers." The guard called out to her from the door breaking her concentration. "Sophia is waiting for you in her office."

"Tell her she has a few minutes of waiting because I literally just woke up." Ariana called back before climbing out of bed., _"I get the feeling these visions are going to get worse before the tournament ends, maybe I should talk to mom about this." _Ariana thought before she started taking her meds.

*later in Sophia's office*

By now breakfast was getting underway with most of the duelists pouring into the cafeteria for their first meal of the day, Sophia on the other hand.

"Let me get this straight." Sophia stated as she messaged her forehead, Raven and Jade had managed to get there whilst Ariana was trapped in her vision and she wasn't liking what she was hearing. "Every time we've defeated a possessed duelist, we've been playing into the demon's hands?"

"Essentially yeah." Jade nodded as she leaned back on her chair. "It's a win/win situation for the demon, if it wins it gets two new followers, if it loses it's power increases."

"We off course only know this because Jade was possessed last night." Raven continued as she folded her arms. "I still don't know if it was deliberate or not, but the demon let Jade have some knowledge of its plans."

"And believe me, peeking into the mind of a demon was not fun." Jade nodded before motioning to Raven. "Nadia defeated me before I could learn much else, but I was still able to get some valuable information, what we do with that information is the problem."

"Or what can we do." Sophia corrected her as she folded her arms. "Me and Seto discussed the possibility of calling off the tournament yesterday after Jenny's crash but we both agreed that there was too much at stake for this tournament to fail, on the other hand there doesn't seem to be a set pattern to the duelists that he possessed."

"On the contrary, we believe there is." Raven responded as she stepped forward. "Gavin Freeman, child prodigy of the game and one of the first duelists from Baldock to hit the international scene but no real tournament experience to speak off and the first duelist eliminated from the tournament, Ariana Sommers, mental health issues aside, a gifted duelist who came in second in the Pennsylvania regionals competing at her first major tournament."

"No thanks to Claudio's joke of a management company." Jade continued as she flipped some hair over her shoulder. "Let's be honest, you need no introduction, Jenny McQuaid, came in second in the Scottish Nationals, was considered one of the favorites to win before her anti-climactic elimination and then there's me." Jade added as she took a deep breath. "Came in second at the Australian Nationals five years running, top four of last year's Battle City, not to mention one of your employed duelists."

"Your saying that as the demon's power increases, it's been possessing more powerful duelists?" Sophia asked and the two women nodded before Sophia frowned. "So why was I, the CEO of I2, the third one possessed? I'm not saying that Gavin and Ariana aren't talented duelists but that's massive leap in terms of both importance and experience in the Dueling World."

"I didn't get a chance to ask but my best guess?" Jade commented as she stood up. "It's been years since you competed in a tournament and this is a one off return, like it or not there are a lot of duelists competing who aren't nearly as rusty as you."

"Jade, need I remind you that I made the decision to return for this tournament last year?" Sophia asked as her eyes narrowed. "And since I made that decision, I had been training nonstop to prepare."

"Against dueling robots and your own employees." Raven pointed out as the Polish woman stepped forward. "I don't care how high you set the robot's difficulty setting, they are nothing compared to tournament level duelists and let's be honest, your employees were likely worried about being fired if they did beat you."

"Even though I made it clear from day one that no such policy ever existed or would ever exist in my company, for starters that would open me up to a tidal wave of wrongful termination lawsuits." Sophia pointed out as she leaned back. "I have one of the best legal teams in the world, ranging from criminal defense to civil litigation but my army or lawyers would get swept up in that wave."

"True but you have to admit, your name still carries a lot of negative stigma." Jade pointed out and Sophia frowned before sighing.

"All right, you've made your cases, if I were you, I'd get over to the dining hall as soon as you can." Sophia advised them and Raven and Jade shared a look. "As for the demon, I'm still not sure what we can do about it, at least with the Orichalcos we had a physical enemy we could defeat."

"Technically, the same applies to the demon." Jade pointed out as she turned to her boss. "But as we said, by defeating his underlings we're playing into the demon's hands, claws, whatever."

"We'll figure out a way to deal with it eventually." Raven continued as the two women made their way towards the door. "However, I fear that it may last beyond this tournament."

"I was thinking the same thing." Sophia nodded as she shifted her weight. "I'll be in the dining room as soon as I've finished the check in with Ariana, please try to make sure that there's a table available for me."

"Easier said than done." Jade scoffed before she held the door open for Raven and the two women left just as Ariana approached the door, Jade held the door open for the younger woman who entered Sophia's office without hesitation.

"I hope you'll forgive me if I'm not in a chatty mood Ariana." Sophia greeted her as the Greek-Iranian woman sat down opposite Sophia's desk. "But I have a lot of things on my plate right now."

"You mean that crash that happened yesterday?" Ariana asked and Sophia nodded with a frown on her face. "What's the latest on Jenny's condition?"

"I'll spare you the gory details but suffice to say, it's not looking good for her." Sophia responded with a sad sigh and Ariana nodded grimly. "The good news is that she's receiving the best care possible at Domino City Hospital back on the mainland, the bad news is that it's unlikely that she'll ever be able to walk again."

"That's too bad, I watched the Scottish finals, she had a lot of talent." Ariana sighed in response and Sophia nodded. "Back to the whole reason I came here, I did take my medication this morning, but I did have another vision before I got out of bed."

"I didn't get any reports of you breaking the bed so I'm assuming that you got out of it okay?" Sophia asked and Ariana nodded before Sophia frowned. "We haven't known each other long but I can tell that something's bothering you about that vision."

"You could say that." Ariana nodded as she paused for a moment. "I told you about my doppelganger, right? Well she showed up in the vision, that's not what's troubling me, it's the fact that she said that she was my twin sister."

"Really?" Sophia asked with a raised eyebrow and Ariana nodded. "My bio on you didn't mention any siblings."

"Because I don't have any, as far as I know, I'm an only child." Ariana explained as she shifted her weight. "I assumed that she meant that I had a twin sister who died in the womb but my mom's always been open with me about how I was conceived, I think she would've mentioned if I was meant to be part of a pair of twin sisters."

"I agree, that does seem like something she would've told you." Sophia nodded in agreement before sighing. "It could be that demon messing with your head, but it might be worth calling your mom after the session, if you did have a twin sister it would explain a lot about the doppelganger."

"Yeah, I would've called her by now if it weren't for the check in, no offense." Ariana nodded before she stood up. "Can I go? I'm starving."

"You and me both but keep me updated if you get another vision." Sophia nodded and Ariana left the room, once Sophia was alone, she shook her head. "This demon business seems to get stranger by the day and we're only three days into the tournament." Sophia muttered to herself as she stood up. "And if Raven is right, then this tournament won't be the last we see of it!"

*elsewhere in the castle*

Whilst Sophia was going through her morning routine the rest of the duelists in the castle were either getting dressed or where just waking up.

"Five more minutes…." Lance grumbled under his breath as he lay in bed half asleep, Chloe was in the middle of getting dressed in front of a full body mirror when she heard her boyfriend and shook her head.

"Lance, not even I was that bad when I was at Duel Academy." Chloe responded as she shook her head before grabbing her gypsy style crop top and putting it over her red crop top. _"No, too many layers even with the fact that both tops leave my stomach exposed." _Chloe thought as she took it off and started straightening her long hair. _"This island doesn't get as hot as Duel Academy Island did but it can still get pretty hot." _Chloe thought before glancing over at her boyfriend who was still in bed. "And Chelsea had to threaten to drag our bunk bed to the main arena for our tag team tournament match at one point just to get me out of bed!"

"Well yeah but that was back when Chelsea was infamous for her temper." Lance responded as he sat up and glanced over at Chloe. "Hell, your temper could be just as nasty as hers at times."

"True but aside from that one time I slapped Andreas I never really lashed out like Chelsea did." Chloe responded with a shrug before looking between her two tops. "Should I go with the gypsy top or just the sleeveless crop top?"

"You're really asking me?" Lance asked with a deadpan expression on his face and Chloe shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, I think you'd look amazing in either top, but you will be spending most of the day in the pod, does it really matter?"

"And men wonder why they can't understand women." Chloe muttered under her breath before turning to Lance. "You mean aside from breakfast and dinner? Besides, I can't make my mind up on which one I want to wear, and I've already ruled out wearing both tops, this was so much easier when I was a student at Duel Academy picking out outfits to wear to tournament days."

"Yeah, most of your outfit was already chosen." Lance nodded once her understood what she meant. "Speaking of the Tag Team Tournament, did they ever do a second one?"

"I remember there being plans to bring it back after we graduated but from what I heard, those plans never got past the planning stage." Chloe responded as she shook her head before resuming brushing her hair. "Between the Orichalcos Duelists using the tournament as a convenient distraction to get their agents on the island, Thomas Newborne's plans to sabotage the finals and the beating Nicola took at Jessica, Cameron and Thomas's hands I think they felt that there was too much controversy surrounding the first one to bring it back."

"Not to mention Chelsea beating Jessica up." Lance responded with a nod before finally getting out of bed. "Didn't Jessica try to sue Chelsea from prison after she won the Illinois Regional Championship?"

"Yeah, aggravated assault." Chloe responded before giving her hair a few flips whilst her boyfriend got dressed. "But there were two things that cost Jessica that lawsuit, Nicola testifying about what Jessica did the night before which caused public opinion of her to do a 180 and the fact that it was revealed that she was an Orichalcos Duelist, not only did the judge laugh it out of the courtroom but he made Jessica's family pay for Chelsea's legal fees."

"And since she came from a wealthy family that was like pocket change to Jessica's family." Lance nodded before getting dressed and walking over to Chloe, he embraced her from behind and kissed her on the neck causing Chloe to grin. "But all the money in the world can't buy my love for you babe."

"One of these days, you'll come up with a romantic line of your own, rather than get them from the romantic comedies I make you sit through on valentine's day." Chloe teased her boyfriend before spinning around and kissing her boyfriend passionately albeit on her toes due to the height difference between them, the kissing continued until Chloe broke it off. "Much as I'd like to take this to the bed, we do have breakfast and a tournament to get too."

"Do you think they'll mind us having breakfast in bed?" Lance asked with a coy wink and Chloe laughed.

"And I wouldn't be surprised if you got that line from a porno." Chloe responded as she shook her head before embracing Lance back. "But Andreas did tell me that they tend to send guards round to a duelist's room if they aren't in the pod room by a certain time, he didn't tell me why he and Nicole were late yesterday."

"I think I can guess." Lance responded before they broke the embrace. "You ever wonder about the future? For us as a couple I mean."

"Even more so since I got that true love storyline with Amanda." Chloe nodded as she started walking towards the door. "But aside from that, I made my mind up about spending the rest of my life with you a long time ago, I don't see that ending any time soon."

"That's good to hear." Lance responded with a nod before watching his girlfriend leave, after a few moments he dug into his pocket and produced a ring box. _"I was saving this for when we next end up in a duel against each other Chloe, and since we're on different teams that's got a great possibility of happening." _Lance thought before pocketing it. _"But will I ever get the chance? And how will it work in the Virtual World?" _Lance thought before leaving the room.

*in the virtual world*

Once breakfast was over and the food had enough time to go down the duelists were back in the Virtual Reality pods and ready to begin the session anew.

"_Yesterday was a hell of a day." _Chelsea thought as she stood up in her tent, she had expected to go to sleep (in game) once it was clear that the session was about to end but when she reentered the virtual world she found herself unable to get much sleep for at least an hour. _"Between me sleeping with my ex and admitting as such to Beth and potentially ending the career of a young, up and coming duelist through no fault of my own I have a lot to think about."_

"_My main concern is whether you'll keep this bottled up." _Wattchimera responded and Chelsea frowned as she caught on. _"It's not like you don't have a history of doing that."_

"_History being the key word." _Chelsea responded as she gathered up her equipment. _"That shit did me no favors when I was a teenager, the intervention my siblings had at the beginning of the LA trip made me realize that, and as soon as I'm back home I'm booking a session with my shrink and talking to Beth about everything in general." _Chelsea thought before pausing. _"In hindsight I'm surprised I didn't call Beth first, after the crash I mean."_

"_Well, given the nature of your call to her before the crash…." _Wattchimera trailed off and Chelsea nodded as she got the idea.

"_Your right, better to let her cool down first, I'm still processing the fact that I had sex with Kylie last night." _Chelsea thought before the door to her tent opened and she looked up. _"Speak of the devil, and she shall appear." _Chelsea thought as Kylie entered the tent. "You could've knocked first."

"On what? Cloth? We both know that wouldn't have made much noise." Kylie responded as she motioned to the cloth and Chelsea frowned. "Look, I wanted to talk about what happened last night."

"About what? The fact that you never got over our breakup? Or the fact that you came onto me and before I knew it, we were fucking in my tent?" Chelsea asked bluntly and Kylie winced at her tone. "And here I was thinking that the only thing I had to worry about in this tournament was defending my title, didn't realize soap opera bullshit was going to be dragged into it!"

"Tell me about it." Kylie nodded in agreement before sighing. "But it is about the sex, it was wrong of me to come onto you and I wanted to apologize."

"You didn't seem to regret it after I woke up with you spooning me last night." Chelsea pointed out as the lesbian let out a deep breath. "For fuck's sake, you wanted to go for round two!"

"All that was heat of the moment but after I returned to my tent, I guess I came to my senses as well." Kylie shrugged her shoulders in response and Chelsea raised an eyebrow. "I know I invited you into my tent if you changed your mind about round two but if you had, I would've said no, and that was only compounded when I told my boyfriend after the session."

"Didn't you say that you were in an open relationship with him?" Chelsea asked and Kylie nodded.

"I did and that is true, but he still called me out, we're in an open relationship but it's one with rules." Kylie explained and Chelsea gave her a curious look. "No prostitutes of either gender, no exes, if the partner your bringing home is up for it, offer them a three way and no one who's currently married or in a relationship, last night I broke two of those rules."

"No exes and no messing with current relationships." Chelsea nodded before frowning. "About that three-way thing, he knows I'm a lesbian right? I know I experimented with guys and gals when we first dating but…..."

"Yeah, he knows, and not just because your one of the few openly gay duelists." Kylie explained with a nod as she folded her arms. "I told him about you after we reunited on the ship, lesbian status and all, don't worry, I left out the part about Dan."

"Good, I'd feel much better if it was me telling people about my disaster of a last straight relationship rather than having them learn it second hand." Chelsea nodded after breathing a sigh of relief. "But at the same time, I would've preferred you telling me that you hadn't gotten over how our relationship ended sooner."

"It's not like I was going to reintroduce myself that way, "Hey Chelsea, remember me? I am your first girlfriend and I have not gotten over how our relationship ended", at worst it makes me sound like a bitter ex." Kylie admitted and Chelsea rolled her eyes.

"Sound?" Chelsea asked with a scoff and Kylie went to respond but could not find the words. "Look, as far as I'm concerned, our past relationship is just that, the past, we both have the same goal, make it to the finals, from this point on let us keep it professional between us."

"Agreed." Kylie nodded before the tent opened again and Kaiba poked his head in. "Is it time for battle already?"

"Yes, get your stuff ready." Kaiba nodded and the two women got ready to move. "And by the way, the whole camp heard you two last night, next time keep it down."

"There isn't going to be a next time, that was why Kylie was in my tent in the first place." Chelsea responded as she shook her head and Kaiba did not respond. _"Being told by a legendary duelist that my sex with my ex kept him awake, that sounds like a story I'd tell Jasmine when she gets older, a lot older."_

*elsewhere in the world*

As Chelsea's party was getting ready to leave Chloe's party was just waking up in the castle following Jason's duel against Ravenscar after taking up rooms on the third floor.

"_So much going through my head right now." _Chloe thought as she brushed her long hair in front of a mirror, fortunately for her they had found a hair restoration potion whilst searching the rest of the castle and it had restored Chloe's hair back to it's elbow length making her in game appearance more closely resemble her real appearance. _"I know Sophia and Kaiba have invested a lot into this tournament but continuing the tournament after Jenny McQuaid got injured?" _Chloe thought as she put down the brush. _"I guess they are just thankful that Jenny was already eliminated."_

"_We both know that a major tournament like this would have reserve duelists in case a participant couldn't continue due to injury." _Silent Magician responded as her transparent form appeared next to Chloe. _"Wasn't that how your first pro-league opponent ended up against you?"_

"_Yeah, filling in for her older sister after she got in a car crash appropriately enough." _Chloe responded with a nod as she thought back to that day. _"Only issue was that she was at my experience level when I first joined Duel Academy, reminded me of my first duel against Theresa in that respect, albeit she still managed to put up a decent fight."_

"_And fortunately, her sister wasn't that badly injured." _Silent Magician responded before there was a knock at the door and she disappeared from her protégé's side.

"I'm decent." Chloe called out and the door opened revealing Amanda. "Morning Amanda, are we heading off already?"

"Yep, and this time we know where we're going, Ricardo found a letter from Ravenscar to Ravencraw that revealed his next destination." Amanda nodded as she stepped into the room and sat down on the bed. "I doubt we'll have to fight him right away since we just hit level two, but we should find more answers there."

"I hope so." Chloe nodded in agreement as she turned to the taller woman. "I'm still not sure about this true love storyline we've been thrown into even after agreeing to go through with it."

"Like I said at the other castle, if we do end up having sex, I'll happily guide you through it." Amanda assured her and Chloe grinned. "After all, it takes two to tango as Adrienne would say, she even offered to sleep with you in real life to prepare you and I'm not sure if she was serious or not."

"Knowing her I'm not so sure myself." Chloe laughed in response before shaking her head. "It's still better than Lance's idea, basically watch a ton of lesbian porn videos before a session and unlike Adrienne, I know he was serious about it."

"He does know that porn is a poor representation of real sex, right?" Amanda asked with an amused look on her face and Chloe nodded. "Then again you did say that you have had sex with Lance before, then again Adrienne's sex drive is almost like a porn character's so what do I know?"

"You tell me, you're the one who's dating her!" Chloe responded with a laugh before shaking her head. "As for the Adrienne thing, if she is serious and she does pop around me and Lance's room for sex with me I don't think Lance would object as long as he got to watch, like you said, it's a two-person show, most of the time." Chloe responded getting a laugh out of Amanda. "I still haven't let Lance live down the fact that I walked in on him jerking off to porn during the California trip."

"Considering how that trip started, that was a good bit of levity." Amanda responded with a chuckle and Chloe quickly nodded in agreement. "That reminds me, Adrienne was wondering how Rex and Nala are these days."

"Considering how quickly she fell in love with my dogs, that doesn't surprise me." Chloe responded with a slight laugh before shaking her head. "They moved in with me and Lance after we brought our own place in Domino, I wasn't sure about it at first but they were always more my dogs than the family dogs if that makes any sense, it does get a bit crowded in our one bedroom house but it's worth it."

"I bet." Amanda nodded with a grin. "They must be getting pretty old by now, right?"

"Rex turned eight a couple of weeks ago, Nala's turning seven in October, we happen to share a birthday." Chloe nodded before letting out a deep breath. "I know dogs don't live nearly as long as humans and the fact that they are nearing the senior dog age is worrying me, but I do plan to get new dogs once they do pass away."

"Won't change how painful that experience will be." Amanda responded as she shook her head and Chloe raised an eyebrow. "My family is basically a family of dog lovers, whenever there's a family reunion it's pretty much mandatory that we bring our dogs, I don't have one at the moment due to my schedule as the Canadian National Champion but I've had dogs in the past."

"I guess that makes sense, but my parents still live in Domino and whenever I'm overseas for a tournament, like this one, they are more than happy to dogsit for me and Lance." Chloe responded she stood up and stretched a bit. "I did say hi to them over Skype before I went to bed last night at least." Chloe added before there was a knock at the door.

"Chloe, is Amanda with you? Because she didn't answer at her room." Fran's voice rang out and Chloe went to answer the door. "And if she is with you, you are fully clothed right?"

"_Half tempted to start making porn sounds just to mess with her." _Chloe thought as she glanced over at Amanda. _"But after what Ravenscar put the princess through, I'd rather not spend any longer than necessary in this castle." _Chloe thought before turning her attention back to the door. "We're decent, we were just chatting for the past few minutes, some true love storyline we're in, right?"

"You're kidding right? Since I got married to Phil, we don't have sex nearly as often as we used too." Fran responded with a scoff before opening the door and revealing that she was with Ricardo and Jason. "I don't know about you ladies, but I've had enough of this castle to last me a lifetime or two, the wagon's ready to go."

"Try to keep your tongues out of each other's mouths whilst on the road." Ricardo added as they led the two women away. "I don't want to interrupt you for a third time."

"If you did interrupt us for the third time, I'd start throwing a few spells your way." Chloe responded with a grin before they left the third floor.

*elsewhere in the world*

Lance's party had reached the next tomb by now which would lead them to their next Destiny Orb, right now the five duelists were standing at the entrance which was an open cave mouth.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Adrienne asked as she turned to Sophia after the French woman had a good look around. "Because I can't be the only one who thinks that this is a little too easy."

"This is the place, besides the last tomb was a lot bigger on the inside as well." Sophia nodded before the two women glanced over at Lance, Dmitri and Gabriella. "Before we head in, I think it's only right that we decide who's getting the next duel."

"I was about to volunteer, actually." Gabriella responded as she stepped towards the two taller women. "Frankly, I haven't had a duel since the Italian Nationals, didn't get much of a chance to practice since a certain someone announced this tournament literally right after I won."

"I apologize for that." Sophia responded sheepishly as a sweat drop rolled down her head. "But Italy is nine hours ahead of California and I announced it early in the morning, I thought I had all my bases covered."

"It's nothing, I know you had to announce it in time for Duelist Kingdom's 40th anniversary." Gabriella responded as she put her hands up before turning to the others. "Any objections to me getting the next duel?"

"As long as I get to duel the guardian, I'm in agreement." Dmitri nodded as he made his way towards the cave entrance. "I'm in the same situation as Gabriella, my last duel was at the Russian Nationals, but I had more time to prepare since they were in January."

"I don't have a problem with that, so long as we're in agreement that I'm competing last." Sophia nodded in agreement as she turned to Lance. "And if we're sticking to the same lineup as before that should mean that we'll loop back to Lance."

"I mean, I'm okay if you guys want to change up the order once we've all had a turn." Lance responded with a shrug before he glanced at the cave. "Either way we'll all gain XP, I say we get moving before it gets dark anyway."

"I was about to say, if it gets too dark then it might be a good idea to spend the night in the port town." Gabriella responded as she glanced towards the direction of the town. "It's a few minutes' walk from here and we already have rooms booked at the inn, but then again you guys were in the last tomb for two days straight."

"Hopefully, we won't spend nearly as long in this tomb as we did the last one, I've had enough of stone beds to last me a lifetime." Adrienne nodded in agreement before they entered the cave. "Remember guys." Adrienne added as she turned to the others without watching where she was going. "The last tomb had traps and zombie monsters spread throughout, keep an ear out for any strange noises and keep an eye out for any…..." Adrienne trailed off as she felt a step beneath her sink. "Pressure plates."

"You just had to open your big mouth." Sophia sighed as they heard a door slam shut behind them and span around just in time to see a door blocking the entrance. "Must be a magical door, because I didn't see anything that indicated that that was there before, anyone have anything that can dispel magic?" Sophia asked and the others checked their guides not noticing that the ground was starting to slide out from under them.

"Unfortunately, noooooooooooo…." Lance's response trailed off as the stairway that was once beneath their feet disappeared causing them to fall into a deep pit.

*a few moments later*

Surprisingly, no one was seriously hurt by the fall as they had all taken four points of fall damage and Lance had landed somewhere soft and cushiony.

Unfortunately for him, that spot just happened to be on top of Adrienne with his nose firmly between the beautiful French woman's large breasts, made worse by the fact that he had inadvertently grabbed both breasts when pulling himself up. "Lance, you are so lucky that I like Chloe enough to not kick you in the balls for that." Adrienne commented with an annoyed huff as Lance rubbed his aching cheek from where Adrienne had slapped him. "Come to think of it, the guide said that our duels would be livestreamed but what about the stuff in between."

"Fortunately for Lance, I decided to limit the streams to just the dueling action." Sophia responded as she shook her head before providing Lance with some extra heeling magic. "I've played and DMed enough Dungeons and Dragons games to know how bad certain quotes can get when taken out of context, or in this case, actions."

"I'm almost afraid to ask but any examples?" Gabriella asked as she dusted herself off and Sophia thought for a moment.

"One time a Cleric said, and I quote, I'm lawful good and I say blacks are bad." Sophia responded and the other duelists winced. "In context, he was talking about black dragons which can be nasty to deal with at the best of times, out of context, well, do I need to explain it?"

"Yeah, probably best that we just stream the duels." Lance nodded in agreement as he nudged as far away from the annoyed Adrienne as possible. "What happened to him?"

"The character or the player?" Sophia asked and Lance nodded as if to say both. "Ironically, the cleric ended up dying to an Ancient Black Dragon but by that point the party were so high leveled that reviving fallen party members was more of an inconvenience than anything else, as for the player, well, he ended up getting fired over a racist tweet so make of that what you will." Sophia added before the duelists finally took in their surroundings. "What the hell?"

Whilst the other tomb was certainly spacious, this was on a whole other level as a massive stone city was hiding beneath the tomb. "This is how I want to be buried." Lance commented with a low whistle as he looked around. "Just a big fucking city around where I died!"

"Let's not try to think about how much that would cost." Gabriella responded as a large sweat drop rolled down her head. "What do we know about the guy inhabiting the tomb?"

"According to the questline, this place belonged to a massively rich noble who ordered his tomb be built around the city he founded, guessing he didn't hold a referendum to see what the people living in the city thought." Sophia responded after checking her quest book. "He was buried in a chamber beneath his palace, nothing about him being a lich but I'm guessing that's our destination."

"Well, that should be easy." Adrienne deadpanned as she started to calm down. "This city looks to be as big as Paris, to put that in perspective, Paris is a city of two point one hundred and forty eight million people, then again Paris is also a densely packed city in terms of square miles and when taking that into account, this looks closer to London, which is six hundred square miles."

"How do you know all that?" Lance asked with a dumbfounded look on his face and Adrienne smirked.

"What? Did you think I'm just a pretty face?" Adrienne asked rhetorically before flipping her hair cockily. "I majored in Geology at Paris Descartes University, not that it did me much good in the real world since I ended up serving tables at a café in Paris before I made it big as the French National Champion but that info does come in handy sometimes."

"We can either sit here and discuss geology with Adrienne or we can actually make progress before the session ends and frankly, I don't want to end a session in another tomb." Sophia responded as she shook her head and the others nodded before making their way into the city.

*later*

As the party ventured deeper into the underground city, they couldn't seem to make much progress in terms of finding the palace, though Lance had other things on his mind.

"Look, I'm sorry okay!" Lance apologized to Adrienne as the French woman walked alongside him, the two dark haired duelists were towards the back of the group and Lance was trying to use the opportunity to apologize to Adrienne. "How was I supposed to know that would happen?"

"Technically speaking, no one saw the fake stairwell trap coming." Adrienne reminded him as she turned to Lance. "Besides that, you were behind me on the stairwell with Dmitri."

"And you were with the other women in the group, frankly I'm not sure if landing that way on Sophia would've been any worse." Lance responded before they heard Sophia scoffing. "Something funny Sophia?"

"Trust me Lance, if you did land on top of me in the same way as you did Adrienne your aching cheek would've been the least of your worries." Sophia responded and Lance winced as it dawned on him. _"Setting aside the fact that I'm a rape victim who knows a thing or two about self defense off course." _Sophia thought before turning her attention back to Lance. "But that's only if you had done it intentionally, which would've required you to have visited this tomb before."

"Besides, I would've thought that dating Chloe would tell you that you usually need to buy a woman dinner first before you grab her like that." Adrienne teased him and Lance sweat-dropped in response. "How about we just forget it ever happened and move on?"

"_Normally I would object to landing face first between a beautiful woman's large breasts but like Adrienne said, I'm not a single man anymore." _Lance thought before offering Adrienne a fist bump as a sign of solidarity and there being no hard feelings, Adrienne quickly got the idea and returned the fist bump before they continued on their way. _"Off course, there is the fact that Chloe's breasts have never been that big to begin with, and based on what she told me her in game character isn't much different from her in terms of physical appearance so…..."_

"We've got company!" Lance's train of thought was quickly derailed by Gabriella's voice and he looked up to see several dark figures blocking their path. "Let us through, we need to get to the palace!"

"In order to reach the palace, you must earn the right!" One of the figures responded before stepping forward revealing herself to be The Unfriendly Amazon (4/2000/1000). "We are the protectors of that sacred place, to earn passage you must defeat me in a duel."

"_A monster whose effect requires the sacrifice of another monster to remain on the field is cooperating with two other monsters." _Gabriella thought as she stepped forward. _"I'll have to ask Sophia about this later but for now I'll just assume that the game's writers had a sense of humor, a bad one at that." _Gabriella thought before activating her duel disk. "If your looking for an opponent, you've found her, my name is Gabriella and when I win you have to point us in the direction of the palace!"

"Like seriously." Lance chimed in and the Amazon turned to him. "We've been looking around this dump for at least an hour."

"Two actually." The Unfriendly Amazon corrected him before turning to Gabriella. "Very well Gabriella, but you won't win." She added before glancing at her companions. "Leave us be, this won't take long." The amazon added and her companions disappeared. "I'll keep this short I will serve as my own Deck Master."

"My Deck Master is Fire Princess!" Gabriella responded as the woman in red appeared next to her (4/1300/1500). _"Already I'm either thinking that her ability has something to do with Amazoness monsters or other monsters of her ilk such as Boar Soldier, either way this shouldn't be too difficult." _Gabriella thought as they drew their opening hands. "Who's going first?"

"I am." The amazon responded before looking over her opening hand. "I summon Amazoness Paladin in attack mode!" The Unfriendly Amazon announced as she played the card and the female sword wielding warrior in the revealing outfit appeared on the field ready for battle (4/1700/300). "My monster gains one hundred attack points for each Amazoness Monster I control, including herself." The Unfriendly Amazon explained as Paladin's attack points went up to eighteen hundred. "But I'm not done yet."

"I would hope so because whilst eighteen hundred attack points is decent, I can think of several cards in my deck that can attack over it." Gabriella responded as she folded her arms and The Unfriendly Amazon frowned. _"Then again, that isn't the point of my deck."_

"Indeed, I special summon Amazoness Baby Tiger from my hand through her effect." The Unfriendly Amazon responded before she played the card and a baby version of Amazoness Tiger (4/1100/1500) appeared on the field purring away (2/500/500) and Amazoness Paladin's attack points went up to 1900. "My monster's name becomes Amazoness Tiger while on the field or in the graveyard…"

"Oh my god, it's so cute!" Adrienne squealed causing the other duelists to face-fault in response, once the others got back to their feet Adrienne cleared her throat. "Sorry, animal lover instincts took over for a minute there, besides that monster isn't nearly as strong as Amazoness Tiger so why not just use the real thing?"

"I was about to ask the same thing." Gabriella nodded in agreement as The Unfriendly Amazon smirked. "And I bet you are about to tell us."

"I would've if that hooker posing as a druid hadn't interrupted me." The Unfriendly Amazon responded, and Adrienne fumed before being restrained by Lance who was being careful to keep his hands as far away from Adrienne's breasts or crotch as possible. "I mean, if you and the Bard want some alone time then feel free to go into one of the buildings, as I was about to say, Amazoness Baby Tiger gains one hundred attack points for each Amazoness monster in my graveyard."

"So why summon her on your first turn?" Gabriella asked before it hit her. "Unless this is when your Deck Master ability comes in!"

"Why do you think they call me "The Unfriendly Amazon"?" The Unfriendly Amazon retorted before she picked up her deck. "I activate my deck master ability and it's called Culling the Tribe, the combined levels of my two monsters are six, which means I can send six Amazoness Monsters from my deck to the graveyard." The Unfriendly Amazon added as she sent the six monsters to the graveyard and Amazoness Pet Tiger's attack points went up to 1100. "There's more to my deck master ability but I'm not ready to tell you just yet, I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

"_I was just thinking that Amazoness monsters was an odd choice for The Unfriendly Amazon's deck master ability." _Sophia thought as Gabriella drew her card. _"The official lure states that she is an exile from the Amazoness tribe for killing her allies in a blind rage, that was the whole reason she has her effect, and the reason why I2 never counted her as a member of the Amazoness archetype, off course the fact that her translated Japanese name is "Ally-Killing Lady Knight" has something to do with it."_

"I set two cards facedown and a monster in defense mode." Gabriella announced as she set her three cards down on the field. "And I end my turn."

"That's all?" The Unfriendly Amazon asked with a scoff as she drew her card, however as she did Gabriella activated one of her facedown cards. "Solemn Wishes?"

"Yep, as long as this trap card is faceup I'll gain five hundred life-points every time I draw a card." Gabriella explained as she motioned to her trap card. "And I have more where that came from!"

"We'll see about that, I summon Amazoness Graverobber in attack mode!" The Unfriendly Amazon announced as she played the card and a muscular young woman with shoulder length red hair and green eyes appeared on the field wearing a dark robe (4/1000/1500) and Amazoness Paladin's attack points went up to 2000 thanks to her effect. "As I have more than two Amazoness monsters in my graveyard my Graverobber allows my Amazoness monsters to inflict piercing damage, and on that note, I activate my deck master ability again."

"Sending ten Amazoness Monsters from your deck to the graveyard." Gabriella nodded as she sent the ten cards to the graveyard and Amazoness Pet Tiger's attack points went up to 2700. "You realize that you run the risk of decking out, right?"

"Off course I do." The Unfriendly Amazon responded before holding up her duel disk and revealing that her deck was larger than normal. "The minimum number of cards allowed in a deck is forty, but the maximum is sixty cards and I take full advantage of that fact."

"Maybe, but at the rate your going you'll run out of cards sooner or later." Gabriella responded with a frown and The Unfriendly Amazon frowned. "You haven't even attacked yet and you're already losing the duel."

"Thanks for the reminder! Amazoness Graverobber, attack her defense monster!" The Unfriendly Amazon commanded, and the robed woman charged forward before slashing the monster with her sword, but the identity of the monster caused The Unfriendly Amazon to do a double take. "Nimble Momonga?!" The amazon demanded as the small flying squirrel appeared on the field (2/1000/100) and Gabriella smirked even as her life-points dropped to 7100.

"That's right, and thanks to his effect I gain one thousand life-points and get to Special Summon two more from my deck in defense mode." Gabriella explained as her life-points increased to 8100 and she started searching through her deck. "But that's not all your attack did!"

"What are you…." The Unfriendly Amazon trailed off before Fire Princess cast a spell at her causing the amazon to scream in pain. "Your deck master's ability?"

"Correct, any time I gain more than one thousand life-points Fire Princess's deck master ability deals that much damage to your life-points!" Gabriella explained as The Unfriendly Amazon's life-points dropped to 7000. "Like I said, you've already lost the duel."

"Oh really?" The Unfriendly Amazon asked with a cocky smirk as she flipped some hair over her shoulder. "Do the math Gabriella, Paladin and Pet Tiger have over two thousand attack points each and thanks to my Graverobber they can inflict piercing damage, your Momongas only restore one thousand life-points, you'll run out of life-points long before I do! Paladin, Pet Tiger, attack her monsters!" The Unfriendly Amazon commanded, and her two monsters charged into battle before destroying Gabriella's monsters and bringing her life-points down to 5600 once the Momonga's effects resolved.

"I guess there's no point in hiding it at this point." Gabriella responded as Fire Princess brought The Unfriendly Amazon's life-points down to 5000 thanks to her deck master ability. "My other facedown card is Solemn Wishes as well." Gabriella added as her second trap card flipped up and The Unfriendly Amazon growled.

"Two Solemn Wishes and Nimble Momonga in your opening hand? How luck can you get?!" The Unfriendly Amazon spat before activating her trap. "And now that I know you have wasted your trap card slots, I will activate Queen's Pawn! Since my Amazoness monsters have destroyed several of your monsters this allows me to special summon another from my deck."

"So why didn't you activate it when Graverobber destroyed my first Nimble Momonga?" Gabriella asked as she folded her arms and The Unfriendly Amazon frowned. "You could've potentially attacked my life-points with Pet Tiger."

"Because I didn't want to risk you springing Mirror Force on me! And just for that I summon my pet tiger's grown up form, Amazoness Tiger!" The Unfriendly Amazon responded as she played the card and the grown-up version of the tiger cub appeared on the field with a growl. "This monster gains four hundred attack points for each Amazoness monster I control and as long as it's on the field, you can't attack any monster except it." The Unfriendly Amazon added as the tiger's attack went up to 3100. "But you have bigger problems, like a tiger ready to maul you! Amazoness Tiger, attack her life-points directly!" The Unfriendly Amazon commanded as the tiger pounced towards Gabriella.

"I don't feel like being mauled today, or ever really." Gabriella responded as she played a card from her hand and an old man in monk's robes appeared on the field blocking the path of Amazoness Tiger (1/0/0). "Emissary of Life here ends the battle phase immediately if I have gained at least one thousand life-points this turn."

"The old man will be put down soon enough." The Unfriendly Amazon retorted before smirking. "In fact, I'm so confident that you'll never get past my tiger that I'm summoning myself to the field."

"Are you sure about that?" Gabriella asked as the amazon stepped onto the field. "You'll have to sacrifice one of your monsters to stay on the field."

"Good point." The Unfriendly Amazon responded before going over to Amazoness Graverobber and cutting her down. "With the amount of power, I have on the field, who needs the ability to inflict piercing damage?" The Unfriendly Amazon asked cockily as she sent her monster to the graveyard. "It's your move!" The Unfriendly Amazon added, and Gabriella drew her card.

"Like I said, I drew a card and now my Solemn Wishes' effects activate." Gabriella announced as her two trap cards glowed and her life-points increased to 6600, she turned to her deck master expectedly but when nothing happened Gabriella scratched her head in confusion. "Err, what?" Gabriella added and Sophia snapped her fingers.

"I knew from the moment they came up with Fire Princess' deck master ability that it'd be open to exploitation." Sophia chimed in as the world froze around the duelists. "Gabriella, you did read Fire Princess' deck master ability thoroughly before choosing her, did you?"

"Off course I did, at least I think I did." Gabriella responded as she scratched her head before bringing up the deck master screen, she read through the ability again and face palmed. "How did I miss that?! Fire Princess' Deck Master ability says that one thousand life-points or greater from one effect, not stacked like my two Solemn Wishes."

"Exactly, it worked with the Mogonbas because they restore a thousand life-points." Sophia nodded and Gabriella sighed. "I'll allow the duel to proceed as it was, but I recommend modifying your in-game deck before your next duel."

"Good idea." Gabriella nodded before the Italian duelist raised an eyebrow. "You can just stop the world with a snap of your fingers?"

"Not exactly, it's a signal to Rachel to pause the action so that I or someone else can explain a ruling without interrupting the flow of the world." Sophia explained before she got ready to snap her fingers again. "Speaking off which." Sophia added before snapping her fingers and the action resumed. _"Hopefully, I won't have to do that again for a while, pausing the world isn't an isolated thing and it's bound to cause confusion with the other parties." _Sophia thought as Gabriella went over her hand.

"I activate Magic Planter to destroy one of my Solemn Wishes and draw two cards." Gabriella announced as she played the card and one of her trap cards shattered before she drew twice. "This triggers my other Solemn Wishes giving me a thousand life-points."

"And taking a thousand life-points from me." The Unfriendly Amazon nodded before she was burned by Fire Princess' flames bringing her life-points down to four thousand. "You may be in the lead but look at how much power I have on the field, once your old man's out of the way I can wipe you out in a turn!"

"You're that confident huh?" Gabriella asked and The Unfriendly Amazon blinked before nodding. "Prove it! I summon my deck master Fire Princess to the field!" Gabriella added as her princess appeared on the field. "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

"Before you do, I activate Call of the Haunted to bring back Graverobber." The Unfriendly Amazon announced as Graverobber returned to the field and she drew her card. "Purely so I can cut her down again!"

"You don't care about your fellow amazons?" Gabriella asked with a look of shock on her face as Graverobber was cut down callously by The Unfriendly Amazon and that seemed to touch a nerve with her.

"Why should I?" The Unfriendly Amazon spat as she glared at the other monsters on the field. "They didn't care about me when they cast me out! I built this deck to get my revenge on them!" She added before grinning once she saw what she had drawn. "But I will take a page out of your playbook, I destroy Call of the Haunted with my own Magic Planter!" The Unfriendly Amazon added as her trap card's hologram shattered and she drew two cards.

"_I'll give the writers credit for staying true to the lore of The Unfriendly Amazon." _Gabriella thought as The Unfriendly Amazon looked over her new cards. "Draw anything good?"

"None of your business." The Unfriendly Amazon spat before adding the cards to her hand. "You know what they say, if you want a job done right, do it yourself! I attack the Fire Princess!" The Unfriendly Amazon announced as she charged into battle. "I knew that facedown card was just a bluff!"

"Was it?" Gabriella asked rhetorically before her facedown card flipped up, The Unfriendly Amazon blinked before her eyes went as wide as dinner plates once she recognized the card. "I activate Mirror Force!"

"NO!" The Unfriendly Amazon yelled out but it was too late as she struck the mirror sending a beam of light straight at her chest and at the rest of her monsters destroying them all but as the deck master, her destruction was the only one that mattered, she collapsed to one knee and glared at Gabriella as she walked up to her defeated opponent. "Go ahead, kill me, that's what you want, isn't it?"

"And stoop down to your level? I don't think so." Gabriella responded as the ping went off indicating that a boss had been defeated. "Where did your companions go? And where is the palace?"

"You really are fucking stupid." The Unfriendly Amazon scoffed as she glared at Gabriella. "I'm strong but them? They make me look weak, as for the palace, keep going north, you'll find it eventually." The amazon added as she glared at them. "Now leave, my companions will find out about my failure soon enough, trust me you don't want to be around for that!"

"I suggest we follow her advice." Lance nodded in agreement as he stepped forward with Adrienne. "Let's move!" Lance added and they walked off towards the palace. _"Wonder if the Amazon and her companions have any connection to Zipharn and his lich revival scheme? Well, whatever it is we had better be ready for anything!"_


	33. Terror from the Deep

Lance's party proceeded through the city following Gabriella's win over The Unfriendly Amazon moving in the direction that the amazon had pointed them towards whilst keeping an eye out for the amazon's allies, after an hour of searching they stopped for a rest in an abandoned house near the docks.

"Are we even sure that this king is one of the liches Zipharn seeks to revive?" Gabriella asked as she sat down on a table with her arms crossed. "I know the map led us to the cave above the city, but we might not have ended up here if Adrienne had watched where she was going."

"The staircase seemed safe enough at first glance." Adrienne defended herself as she walked up to the shorter woman. "How was I to know that we'd get dropped into the city like that!"

"At least I had a soft landing." Lance commented with a sheepish grin and Adriene gave him an annoyed look. "Seriously though, how far did we fall exactly? It's not like we took that much damage."

"By my estimation we fell about ten feet, just based on guesswork off course." Sophia responded with a shrug as she turned to the other duellists. "As for how we get out, let's just hope that there's another portal that'll take us out of here."

"And let's hope for Lance's sake that he doesn't land atop a naked half-elf prostitute as she's getting gang-banged by Half-Orcs again." Dmitri deadpanned as he folded his arms and Lance laughed nervously as a sweat-drop rolled down his head. "Seriously comrade, I would've thought you'd know from dating Chloe for so long that you usually have to buy a woman dinner first before you land on them like that, especially in the position you landed on Adrienne."

"Funny." Adrienne responded sarcastically as she folded her arms, whilst the boys and Sophia talked among themselves Adrienne turned to Gabriella. "You know, I watched the Italian Nationals last year and I could've sworn you used a deferent deck in that tournament."

"Had a feeling this would come up." Gabriella chuckled before shaking her head. "I run four decks, two for more casual tournaments and the others for major tournaments like the nationals, Battle City or this tournament, the deck I used against the Amazon, in a regular duel, is a burn/heal deck but Fire Princess's deck master ability took it to another level, whilst I do plan on using my other, beast oriented deck, during the tournament my burn deck will be my main one."

"You do realise that the deck master level system might screw you over, oui?" Adrienne asked with a raised eyebrow and Gabriella nodded.

"After Sophia announced it following the first session I started looking into lower level and higher level monsters with similar deck master abilities to Fire Princess, unfortunately there aren't that many." Gabriella admitted as she brushed some hair behind her ear. "If I do find myself in a situation where I'm forced to not use Fire Princess as my deck master, I'll switch to the beast deck, I don't want to leave anything to chance."

"Hopefully, that works out for you, unfortunately I only have my Naturia deck to fall back on." Adrienne admitted with an annoyed sigh as she leaned back. "That's already bitten me on the ass before, when I lost the French National Championships, hopefully it won't cost me this tournament."

"Hopefully." Gabriella nodded before they spotted Sophia walking away from the boys. "Off to check in with Rachel?"

"Yeah, I won't be that long." Sophia nodded as she turned to Gabriella before walking off.

*in the HUB area*

As Sophia stepped into the hub Rachel's face appeared on the screen ready to give her report, Sophia made herself comfortable before motioning for Rachel to start.

"First some relatively good news from the mainland." Rachel stated as she cleared her throat and Sophia frowned as she caught on. "Jenny McQuaid's family has heard your offer to foot the bill for her medical expenses, your accountaint might have a heart attack over it but they readily accepted, looks like they plan to fly her back to Scotland for further treatment once she's recovered enough to travel."

"And since England still has the NHS, they won't need my pay-check for the expenses." Sophia nodded as she folded her arms. "There's some bad news to come as well?"

"Two more eliminations, different parties this time." Rachel nodded as she loaded up the profiles for two male duellists. "Daniel "Danny-Boy" Rogers, he got that nickname because he plays in a metal band when he's not duelling, he got eliminated by the Insect Queen in a real nail biter."

"Yeah, I heard of him, before this tournament he came in third in the Pennsylvania regionals, coincidentally eliminated by Ariana." Sophia nodded as she thought back to that tournament. "And the other one?"

"Richard "Richie" Reed, another American duellist who was eliminated by Two Headed King Rex and his dino army." Rachel nodded as his profile was highlighted. "How the designers managed to get a duel disk onto that thing and Insect Queen I'll never know."

"Might have to watch the footage myself later, just to see how it was done." Sophia chuckled before shaking her head. "Danny and Richie are free to remain on the island if they wish, hopefully they won't end up like Jenny, how are the other parties doing progress wise?"

"Not much excitement so far but the session is still young, Chloe's party has left the castle and the others are progressing nicely." Rachel responded before something came up. "That didn't take long, Andreas's party are closing in on their next Destiny Orb."

"Any negative effects from Jade's possession?" Sophia asked and Rachel shook her head. "Keep me updated, frankly I'm surprised Jade was still up for competing after her possession but since she was the last person to duel, I'm assuming someone else will take that guardian on."

"Should be interesting, considering who the guardian is." Rachel nodded as she typed away. "And who we got to voice him."

"He may be retired from duelling but he's still willing to help out." Sophia nodded before she turned to leave. "He always was a great guy anyway, even if he can't escape certain aspects of his reputation."

*elsewhere in the world*

Andreas's group had reached their destination by now which wasn't that far from the location of Lance's group, however their journey took them in the opposite direction from the port town.

"Okay, we made it to the druidic settlement." Andreas commented as he glanced around their surroundings, the settlement seemed to be deserted from what they could see which confused the party. "Annastriana's village was more populated than this, what's going on?"

"Could be bandits got here before we could." Jade responded as she shrugged her shoulders before the Australian woman spotted movement out of the corner of her eye. "Or not, you can come out! We mean you no harm!" Jade called out to the figure she saw and sure he emerged from the shadows revealing himself to be The Legendary Fisherman (5/1850/1600). _"Considering how close to the water we are I'm surprised that I was expecting anyone else."_

"Well met my friends, you must be here to collect your destiny orb." The Fisherman greeted them, and the party shared a look as they recognized his voice almost instantly. "I trust that you've already visited a settlement?"

"Yes, we visited Annastriana's village before we came here, we already have their destiny orb." Andreas responded with a nod as he looked over the fisherman. _"The Legendary Fisherman voiced by Mako Tsunami I doubt I'll encounter anything more meta in my entire career as a duellist." _Andreas thought as he folded his arms. "By the way, where is the rest of your village?"

"We may be druidic by culture but by trade, we are all fisherman." The Fisherman explained as he motioned to the ocean behind the village, sure enough now that they were looking for them the party could see at least a dozen fishing boats out at sea. "We provide fresh produce to both the surrounding villages and the port town, however due to our peaceful nature we are often the target of bandits and other evil doers, I had to be sure that you were trustworthy before I approached you."

"That explains the secrecy." Jade commented before frowning. "But we do have a job to do, and as the head of the tribe I'm assuming you're the only one who can give us the orb?"

"Correct, and to earn that orb you must defeat me in combat." The Fisherman added as a sea green duel disk appeared on his arm. "Who will serve as my opponent?"

"I will." Chakra responded as she stepped forward and sized up The Fisherman. _"The Legendary Fisherman is a relic of a bygone era, and that's me being polite, he shouldn't be too…..." _Chakra trailed off as the French woman felt her stomach rumble as did the others. "I told you we should've eaten at the tavern!"

"What perfect timing." The Fisherman responded as he motioned to the sea and the party looked up, sure enough the other fishermen were bringing in their catches. "It won't do you any good to duel on an empty stomach, come, join us for the feast!"

"Agreed." Chakra nodded in agreement as The Fisherman walked off to help prepare the fish. _"But as hungry as I am, I must confess that I want this duel sooner rather than later, the wait shouldn't be that long though."_

*a bit later*

Despite their simple lives and ways of cooking fish, the party had to admit that the druids were as good at cooking the fish as they were at catching them, in other words, they were pros.

"_I guess Sophia's standards for food in this tournament extend to the virtual world as well." _Andreas thought as he finished his meal as did Chakra, Jade, Raven and Zach. "That was delicious, but I'd rather get going as soon as possible."

"Agreed." Jade nodded as the party turned to The Legendary Fisherman. "So, we got some information from Annastriana's tribe about how bad things were going for them, what about you guys?"

"As I said before, our village is a popular target for bandits but lately they have been quiet." The Legendary Fisherman responded with a nod before he finished his meal. "We are pacifist by nature, but we have an alliance with another tribe, a tribe of warriors who keep the bandits in check for us."

"Just to check but they wouldn't happen to be holding onto a destiny orb as well, would they?" Jade asked and The Legendary Fisherman shook his head.

"No, they don't, the last I heard was that they were thinking about joining an alliance of tribes." The Legendary Fisherman responded as he shifted his weight. "If that does happen, it'll only mean greater protection for us but only if we join that alliance and we value our independence."

"_I would say that it sounds like a win/win situation but it's not my place to say." _Andreas thought as he finished his food. _"Come to think of it, didn't Chelsea mention that her quest was about uniting tribes? I wouldn't be surprised if her party comes this way." _Andreas thought before turning to The Legendary Fisherman. "Now that we've eaten, shall we get to the duel? I know Chakra is eager to get started."

"Off course, it is better that we don't delay this any longer." The Legendary Fisherman responded with a nod before he stood up and beckoned for the other duellists to follow him. "I shall take you to our sacred battle site." The Legendary Fisherman added, and the other duellists nodded before standing up and following The Legendary Fisherman out of the village.

*elsewhere in the world*

Sophia was watching this go down from another HUD area with her arms crossed whilst Rachel continued to monitor the progress of the other parties.

"_Andreas's party is proceeding nicely they should be the ones to beat in this tournament." _Sophia thought before glancing over at Rachel. "Anything I should know before I head back to my party?"

"Not really." Rachel responded as she shook her head before a notification popped up on her screen. "Scratch that, we've had another elimination."

"A third one already? The heard is thinning out faster by the day." Sophia commented as she shifted her weight. "What do we know?"

"It was a female duellist this time." Rachel responded as she loaded up the duellist's picture. "Her name is Savannah Parks and she came in third in the Texas regionals."

"Another shocking elimination, Texas is one of the most competitive American regions in the sport." Sophia commented with a raised eyebrow as she looked over the Texan duellist. "Any details?"

"She was part of Jenny McQuaid's party, they must've hit off well because I remember her being devastated when you informed the competing duellists of Jenny's injuries." Rachel responded as she shook her head sadly. "It likely devastated her enough to drastically affect her performance as a duellist and she was defeated by a low level NPC."

"Based on that, it's like I would've had to remove her from the roster even if she had won." Sophia reasoned with a sad sigh as she read over Savannah's profile. "I knew Jenny's injuries would have a knock on affect with the rest of the duellists, but I expected Chelsea to be the worst affected."

"You and me both." Rachel nodded in agreement before she resumed her work. "Usual stuff about Savannah being free to remain in the island?"

"Yes, but since she was friends with Jenny, I think it's only fair that we allow her to travel to the mainland to visit her and come back." Sophia nodded in response before thinking of something. "Extend that same offer to Chelsea as well."

"I was about to suggest that! Great minds think alike." Rachel chuckled before she resumed her work. "I'll keep you updated on any further developments."

"See that you do, I have a tournament to get back to." Sophia nodded before leaving the HUD area. _"Seven eliminated duellists and some of them where the best in their regions, this is proving to be a tough tournament but the subject of removing Savannah from the roster makes me think about doing the same to Ariana if her mental health gets any worse." _Sophia thought as she re-joined the others. _"Hopefully, it won't come to that."_

*back with Andreas's group*

It had taken the party the better half of an hour to follow The Legendary Fisherman to the area, but they remained close to the shoreline, eventually The Legendary Fisherman stopped moving and started looking out towards the ocean.

"Err, okay, where's the battle site?" Chakra asked as she tapped her foot impatiently and The Legendary Fisherman remained silent. "Are you ignoring me? This place looks the same as all the other places…" Chakra trailed off as The Legendary Fisherman suddenly dove into the water. "If your saying that I need to race you, I can't swim!"

"Great, you scared off the druid!" Jade responded as she shook her head with a facepalm, and Chakra turned to her. "How are we supposed to earn the destiny orb now?!"

"How was I supposed to know that he'd jump in the…..." Chakra trailed off as a huge tidal wave came up behind her and the bard had just enough time to turn around before she got soaked, the rest of the party were far more lucky, as they were far from the coastline and managed to stay dry. "You know, I was initially annoyed that Jason wasn't in my group." Chakra commented once the wave had rescinded revealing that not only was she completely soaked but her long hair had fallen out of its ponytail revealing it to be waist length. "But now I'm glad because he would never let me live this down!"

"Apologies but I needed my mighty steed!" The Legendary Fisherman's voice rang out and Chakra looked out towards the water, sure enough The Legendary Fisherman was now riding the shark from his card artwork. "For obvious reasons I can't ride him on land."

"_There are so many dirty jokes I could make about that." _Chakra thought as she started squeezing the water out of her hair and drying her clothes with a spell. "You could've warned me first."

"If I had warned you then I would've risked scaring off my mount." The Legendary Fisherman responded as Chakra walked up to the shoreline and activated her duel disk. "Don't let the old tales fool you, sharks are normally docile creatures, and only three species are known to attack humans."

"Maybe but I came here to duel, not be lectured about sharks." Chakra responded as she activated her duel disk and the Deck Master selection screen came up. "I take it that your serving as your own Deck Master?"

"Indeed, which gives you a selection of level five monsters or lower." The Legendary Fisherman nodded, and Chakra went over her options.

"_I guess I lucked out with my first duel of the tournament." _Chakra thought before she made her selection. _"But I have all I need right here!" _Chakra thought as a green, muscular genie appeared next to her. "My deck master is La Jinn, the Mystical Genie of the Lamp!" Chakra announced as La Jinn folded his arms (4/1800/1000).

"A fine choice but in straight up combat, I would barely beat your deck master." The Legendary Fisherman responded as they drew their opening hands. "Ladies first, it's the least I can do for making you so wet."

"_Again, so many dirty jokes I could make about that." _Chakra thought as she went over her hand, before she did anything however, she realised that she was missing something. "Did anyone see where the hairband that was keeping my hair up went?" Chakra asked as she turned to the other duellists.

"Nope." Jade responded with a shrug and Chakra frowned. "You look better with your hair down anyway."

"Says the woman who I've never seen with her hair down." Chakra retorted before turning around and noticing the hair band by her foot. "Okay, that definitely wasn't there before."

"It washed out to sea when the tide rolled back out." The Legendary Fisherman called out to her and she picked it up, it was soaking wet for obvious reasons and Chakra quickly started drying it out. "You're lucky that I spotted it, a few minutes later and it would've been far away from our duel."

"I'll keep that in mind as I summon Chain Genie in attack mode!" Chakra announced as she played the card and a shorter genie than La Jinn appeared on the field though it was still muscular (4/1300/1000). "We'll get to its effects later, in the meantime I set two cards facedown and I activate the Field Spell Silver Dungeon!" Chakra announced as she played the card and the scenery changed to a silver dungeon which to Chakra's surprise extended out to the ocean giving the dungeon a small lake in one section. "Please take your time with your move." Chakra added as she started tying her hair up in the ponytail. "Having hair this long makes it a pain to tie back up."

"I'll take that to mean that it's my move." The Legendary Fisherman nodded before he drew his card and went over his hand. "I activate my Deck Master's ability!"

"Already?" Chakra asked with a raised eyebrow as she continued tying her hair up. "And that does what exactly?"

"It's called Terror from the Deep, and with it I can summon at least one Level Five or higher Water Type Monster to my side of the field, this counts as my normal summon so count your blessings." The Legendary Fisherman responded, and Chakra started to get nervous as he picked up a card. "I summon the mighty Kairyu-Shin in attack mode!" The Legendary Fisherman announced as a massive blue sea snake emerged from the ocean with a roar (5/1800/1500).

"Wait, what?!" Chakra asked nearly dropping her hair band in shock when she saw the outdated monster. _"I thought The Legendary Fisherman was an outdated relic but at least he has a proto Watt style effect, Kairyu-Shin is just a normal monster that may as well be a level four monster, why would he waste his deck master's ability on that thing?!"_

"I see that your confused by my choice of monster." The Legendary Fisherman continued as Chakra finally fixed her hair into the ponytail. "But my deck master ability comes with another effect! Any monster that I summon through that effect must attack directly this turn or be destroyed during the end phase, unfortunately for you that same ability lets me bypass your genie and attack you directly!"

"Oh shit." Chakra cussed under her breath before glancing at her facedown cards. _"They won't stop the attack, but I can get a combo going."_

"Kairyu-Shin, attack her life-points directly my mighty beast!" The Legendary Fisherman commanded, and the massive sea snake lunged forward towards Chakra.

"I activate my facedown cards in this order, Chain Heal and Pot of Chains!" Chakra announced as her facedown cards flipped up. "First Chain Heal softens the blow from your sea serpent by granting me five hundred life-points." Chakra added as her life-points increased to 8500. "Next Pot of Chains will allow me to draw one card for each Spell speed that it is activated at, in this case two." Chakra added before drawing two cards.

"Unless you have Battle Fader among those cards you drew, it won't do you much good against…..." The Legendary Fisherman trailed off as several chains ensnared Kairyu-Shin. "What?!"

"You were saying?" Chakra asked cockily as she flipped from hair over her shoulder. "This is one of the effects of my Silver Dungeon in action, when a chained effect occurs that doesn't include the activation of Silver Dungeon, it puts chain counters on an opposing monster and how many depends on the Spell Speed." Chakra explained before smirking. "And Kairyu-Shin will lose one hundred attack points for each chain counter."

"Impressive, but you've forgotten one thing." The Legendary Fisherman responded, and Chakra blinked in confusion. "Your Chain Counters do nothing to prevent my attack."

"Oh, right." Chakra grimaced as she braced herself and whilst Kairyu-Shin's attack points dropped to 1600 it was still quite painful for Chakra when it rammed its head into her chest bringing her life-points down to 6900 knocking Chakra off her feet in the process. "I suppose now's a good a time as any too…"

"Err, Chakra?" Jade called out to her and Chakra turned around realising that not only had her ponytail come lose again but Jade was holding up the hairband. "How about I just hold onto this for the rest of the duel, if you stop to fix your hair every five minutes then the session will be over by the time the duel ends." Jade added and after some hesitation Chakra sighed in resignation before standing back up.

"I expect that back when I do win this duel!" Chakra responded as Kairyu-Shin returned to The Legendary Fisherman's side of the field. _"Why is it so much easier to keep my hair tied up in the real world? I would ask Theresa but her hairs considerably shorter than mine." _Chakra thought with an annoyed huff before motioning to Chain Genie. "As I was saying, it's time I revealed Chain Genie's effect! When I take damage from a monster that has Chain Counters on it my Genie will gain one hundred attack points for each chain counter."

"That's still not enough to bring down my mighty serpent." The Legendary Fisherman pointed out as Chain Genie's attack points went up to 1500. "And I have far deadlier beasts waiting in the waves!"

"_Good, I would've been worried if Kairyu-Shin was the strongest card in his deck, for his sake off course." _Chakra thought before folding her arms. "Are you done?"

"I set two cards facedown and end my turn." The Legendary Fisherman responded as he set the two cards and Chakra drew her card.

"_Chain Genie has other effects, but I'll reveal them when I'm ready." _Chakra thought as she went over her hand. "I summon Combo Fighter in attack mode!" Chakra announced as she played the card and the red haired fighter appeared on the field ready for battle (4/1600/800). "Any battle between my fighter and your serpent would be a draw…..."

"Which is why I can't let it stay on the field! I activate The Wrath of Poseidon!" The Legendary Fisherman announced as his facedown card flipped up depicting the palace from A Legendary Ocean being besieged by an army of Mermails. "Since I control a Water attribute monster this Trap Card negates your monsters summon and destroys it!"

"_I was hoping to save this, but he's left me with no other option." _Chakra thought before motioning to La Jinn. "In response, I activate my Deck Master's ability! As there is one monster on the field with Chain Counters and I'm activating it at Speed Spell 2 or higher, La Jinn's effect will negate your trap card's activation and destroy it." Chakra responded as the wave soared over the coastline to engulf Combo Master, but La Jinn floated in front of the other monster before forming a protective barrier around the other monsters and Chakra protecting them all. "That wouldn't have been the first time you made me wet today, but I'd rather get wet with my female companions!"

"Err, phrasing?" Andreas chimed in and Chakra blushed like a madwoman when she realised how sexual that sounded. "I thought you were in a relationship with Jason?"

"I am!" Chakra asserted as she ran a hand down her face and spun around to face her companions. "Besides, why would I be attracted to a tall, dark and handsome man with a six pack who I've never seen with a shirt on and I'm not helping my case, am I?"

"Not at all." The Legendary Fisherman's clearly amused voice rang out and Chakra turned around. "Besides, I'm flattered but I'm a married man, you would've seen my wife preparing the feast earlier."

"Your wife's one lucky lady." Chakra commented with a grin as The Legendary Fisherman returned to his previous spot, however once his back was turned, she facepalmed. _"I just spent the past five minutes gushing over how attractive the male character from a Duel Monster's card is, I guess this is how most men feel when they do the same for any female monster! Jason's never letting me live this down if I tell him!" _Chakra thought before shaking her head. "Furthermore, since another chain has occurred."

"My serpent gains two counters." The Legendary Fisherman nodded as Kairyu-Shin's attack points dropped to 1400. "Which means you can destroy my monster!"

"That's the plan! And since a chain link of two or higher occurred during my first main phase, Combo Fighter gets two attacks!" Chakra added as Combo Fighter glowed. "And the first is directed towards your monster! Combo Fighter, attack Kairyu-Shin!" Chakra commanded and the fighter got a running start before leaping up and kicking Kairyu-Shun in the head bringing The Legendary Fisherman's life-points down to 7800. "The second effect of my dungeon activates, since Kairyu-Shin had four Chain Counters on it you must mill that many cards from your deck."

"Very well." The Legendary Fisherman nodded as he milled the four cards from his deck, he took a moment to retrieve them from his graveyard to see what was milled before nodding. "Are you going to attack directly with Combo Fighter?"

"That's the plan! Combo Fighter, follow it up with a direct attack!" Chakra commanded and the warrior dived right at The Legendary Fisherman.

"Then allow me to put a stop to your plan! I activate my trap card Torrential Reborn!" The Legendary Fisherman announced as his Trap Card flipped up and to Chakra's shock Kairyu-Shin emerged from the depths once more to block Combo Fighter's path. "As you can see, this brought back my destroyed Kairyu-Shin with his original attack points intact but that's not all because Torrential Reborn inflicts five hundred points of damage for each monster brought back this way!"

"I'm about to get soaked again, aren't I?" Chakra deadpanned and The Legendary Fisherman nodded before Kairyu-Shin sent a jet of water from his mouth at Chakra completely soaking the French Woman and bringing her life-points down to 6400. "If I had known that I'd get this wet during my first duel of the tournament, I would've picked a bathing suit as my costume and gone with the Water Genesi race!"

"If it's any consolation, I would've enjoyed that view." Jade responded as she tried not to laugh, and Chakra gave the Australian woman an annoyed look as she dried herself off again. "At least you won't get a cold or hypothermia as a result."

"True enough I suppose, when I signed up for this tournament that was not something I was expecting to experience." Chakra deadpanned as she squeezed the water out of her hair. "Back to the duel, since I don't want to lose any more life-points I'll call off Combo Fighter's attack." Chakra announced as Combo Fighter returned to her side of the field. "I set two cards facedown and end my turn." Chakra announced and The Legendary Fisherman drew his card. _"How is he beating me with such an outdated card?!" _Chakra thought as she glared at Kairyu-Shin. _"If it was something like Amphibian Beast, I'd feel a bit better because at least that thing is a decent level six beat stick!"_

"_Focus Chakra and you will win." _Chakra's duel spirit partner, Iris, The Earth Mother (6/2400/1200), responded as she appeared next to Chakra. _"And we'd have a much better time of it if you had chosen me as your deck master."_

"_Like I said, I'm saving you for the finals." _Chakra responded before glancing over at The Legendary Fisherman. "Your taking your sweet time with your move, aren't you?"

"Any great strategy needs time to prepare." The Legendary Fisherman responded as he picked up a card. "But I won't keep you waiting any longer, I activate Moray of Greed! Now I can shuffle two water monsters in my hand back into my deck and draw three cards." The Legendary Fisherman added as he picked up two cards, shuffled them back into his deck and drew three cards. "I activate A Legendary Ocean – Atlantis's Empire!"

"Guys, can our next duel be as far away as possible from the coastline?" Chakra deadpanned as the tidal wave came up again but before anyone could respond the wave raced over them transporting them to a vast underwater city. _"I swear if I don't develop a fear of water from this duel I'll be surprised." _Chakra thought before The Legendary Fisherman swam up on his shark now being on Chakra's level. "I'm familiar with A Legendary Ocean but not this new version."

"I'll keep this quick, like the original this card doubles as Umi and reduces the levels of all Water monsters in my hand by one." The Legendary Fisherman responded as he picked up a card. "However, it also increases the attack points off all Water type monsters I control by five hundred and makes it so that they can't be targeted by a card effect, rendering your Silver Dungeon's effect useless."

"And taking away the main power of my deck." Chakra responded as her eyes narrowed and Kairyu-Shin's attack power went up to 2300. _"Thankfully, my deck's improved enough to the point where I don't need to rely on Silver Dungeon exclusively for it's power, still getting rid of this Field Spell would help." _Chakra thought as The Legendary Fisherman played a card. "Dare I ask what your about to play?"

"I'm glad you asked, I summon Amphibian Beast through my Deck Master Ability!" The Legendary Fisherman responded as he played the card and the huge, terrifying fish man appeared on the field ready for battle (6/2400/2000). "Why wouldn't I just sacrifice Kairyu-Shin to summon this mighty beast?" The Legendary Fisherman asked rhetorically as Amphibian Beast's attack power went up to 2900. "Because if I had, this next move wouldn't as effective, I activate my Spell Card Rage of Kairyu-Shin!"

"No thanks, I've had enough of that thing for one day." Chakra responded with a nervous gulp as The Legendary Fisherman's two monsters lunged forward and destroyed Combo Fighter and Chain Genie. "What did you just do?!"

"As long as Umi is active on the field, Rage of Kairyu-Shin targets and destroys your monsters up to the number of level five or higher Water Type Monsters I control." The Legendary Fisherman responded before smirking. "And to make things worse for you, the zones those monsters occupied can't be used on your next turn."

"In other words, if we both had a full field, I'd be up shit creek without a paddle." Chakra grimaced as it dawned on her and The Legendary Fisherman nodded. _"Thank god his Spell Card doesn't target Spell/Trap Cards!"_

"Chakra, please know that I take no pleasure in this." The Legendary Fisherman continued before pointing to Chakra. "But I have a duel to win! Kairyu-Shin, Amphibian Beast, attack her life-points directly!" The Legendary Fisherman commanded, and the two beasts charged towards Chakra ready to deal a lot of damage to her life-points.

"I'm good at maths in general but I don't need to be a mathematician to know that this is going to hurt, a lot." Chakra responded before one of her facedown cards flipped up. "Thankfully, I won't have to endure that! I activate Mirror Force!" Chakra announced and The Legendary Fisherman's eyes widened as the two water type monsters struck the infamous mirror destroying them both. "Destroying two old fashioned monsters with a card that's almost as old as them, poetic, isn't it?"

"Perhaps, but I'm not done attacking." The Legendary Fisherman responded, and Chakra looked up seeing that a ghostly pirate wielding a sword in each hand had replaced Amphibian Beast. "I must thank you because if it weren't for Silver Dungeon Piwraithe the Ghost Pirate (4/1500/500) would've never ended up in the graveyard without me summoning him first."

"_Piwraithe? Wow, that has to be the worst Duel Monster name I've heard in my career as a duellist." _Chakra thought as Piwraithe's attack power went up to 2500. "Okay, going up to two thousand I can understand thanks to your field spell but where did the extra five hundred attack points come from?"

"I'm glad you asked, because Piwraithe gains one hundred attack points for each Water Type Monster in my graveyard." The Legendary Fisherman responded as he held up his graveyard. "Aside from Piwraithe, your dungeon put three monsters in my graveyard and your Mirror Force just sent another two to Davy Jones' Locker!" The Legendary Fisherman added before pointing to Chakra. "Now to pick up where I started, Piwraithe, attack her life-points directly!" The Legendary Fisherman commanded, and the ghostly pirate charged forward…

"There's only one man I go down that easy for and that's my boyfriend!" Chakra blurted out only to instantly regret it as she blushed like a madwoman. "I meant in a duel, not in the bedroom!"

"I'd sooner believe that kangaroos are capable of Space Flight." Jade chuckled and even Raven was barely suppressing a chuckle at Chakra and Jade's comments. "And I probably just gave Sophia an idea for an archetype!"

"I'll believe that when I see it." Chakra responded as her other facedown card flipped up. "But my Negate Attack trap card will protect my life-points from further damage!" Chakra added as Piwraithe's swords hit upon the invisible force-field. "And there's no do-overs this time because Negate Attack also ends the Battle Phase!"

"Indeed, I set one card facedown and end my turn." The Legendary Fisherman responded as he set the card and Chakra drew her card.

"_I could question how we're able to breath, much less talk, underwater but it's probably not worth putting that much thought into it." _Chakra thought as she drew her card and looked at it. _"I can't use my middle and fourth zones thanks to his Spell Card, thankfully that still leaves me with three other zones to work with." _Chakra thought before playing a card. "I'm feeling generous, so I activate Spellbook inside the Pot!"

"So, we both draw three cards? That's fine by me." The Legendary Fisherman nodded as they both drew three cards.

"_On one hand, if I can get rid of Piwraithe then he might be out of options." _Chakra thought as she went over her hand. _"On the other hand, he could've been lucky enough to get two Pirwraithes into his graveyard thanks to my Dungeon, not exactly comfortable with the fact that Silver Dungeon has backfired on me in this duel!" _Chakra thought before picking up the three cards she had drawn. "I set two cards facedown and a monster in defence mode." Chakra announced as she set the three cards. "Your move."

"Very well." The Legendary Fisherman nodded before drawing a card and playing a card he drew with Spellbook. "I summon Glacial Beast Blizzard Wolf in attack mode." The Legendary Fisherman announced as he played the card and a wolf seemingly made of ice appeared on the field with a howl (4/1400/700). "But don't get used to my new monster, I activate Spiritual Water Art – Aoi! I tribute my wolf so I can look at your hand and send one monster from your hand to the graveyard."

"Thanks, but no thanks, I happen to like my hand the way it is." Chakra responded as her facedown card flipped up. "And thanks to Seven Tools of the Bandit, it's negated, all for the mere cost of a thousand life-points." Chakra added before her other facedown card flipped up. "But why stop the chain there? I activate Pot of Chains again!" Chakra added before drawing two cards as her life-points dropped to 5400 and Spiritual Water Art – Aoi shattered. "Obviously, you get to keep your wolf, but for how long?"

"We'll see, won't we? And thanks to my Field Spell his attack points are up to nineteen hundred." The Legendary Fisherman pointed out as his wolf's attack increased to 1900. "And they are directed at your facedown monster, Blizzard Wolf, attack her monster and clear the way for Piwraithe!" The Legendary Fisherman commanded, and the wolf lunged forward…

"You know, if I wasn't in a tournament I'd leave and take my luck to Vegas." Chakra responded as she played a card straight from her hand. "Because Pot of Chains allowed me to draw into Mystical Space Typhoon!"

"No!" The Legendary Fisherman yelled out as a typhoon came in and destroyed his Field Spell leaving only Chakra's dungeon in tact and reducing Piwraithe's and Blizzard Wolf's attack points down to two thousand and fourteen hundred respectively, then Chakra's facedown monster was revealed to be Emperor Sem (4/1300/2000) causing the attack to fail and reducing the Fisherman's life-points to 7400. "Very clever but your monster's meager defence won't hold for long."

"_I would ask in what world does two thousand defence points count as meager but with all the tricks this guy has pulled, I wouldn't be surprised if he had more heavy hitters waiting in the wings." _Chakra thought before smirking. _"At least I finally drew first blood." _Chakra thought before glancing up at The Legendary Fisherman. "Can I take my turn yet?"

"Go ahead." The Legendary Fisherman nodded after going over his hand and Chakra drew her card.

"_Okay, time to make my comeback." _Chakra thought before playing the card. "I sacrifice Emperor Sem to summon Silver Chain Knight!" Chakra announced as she played the card and Emperor Sem vanished from the field to be replaced by a tall knight in silver armour that had chains wrapped around it (6/2500/1200). "I can only summon this monster with Silver Dungeon on the field, for reasons your about to find out because I can banish one quick play spell card from my graveyard to allow him to attack twice!"

"Oh no!" The Legendary Fisherman cried out as Chakra pocketed Mystical Space Typhoon and pointed to Piwraithe.

"First things first, Silver Chain Knight, attack Piwraithe so I no longer have to hear it's horrendous pun of a name!" Chakra commanded and the knight charged forward before decapitating the pirate ghost with his sword and bringing The Legendary Fisherman's life-points down to 6900. "And I'm not done! Silver Chain Knight, attack his wolf!" Chakra commanded and the knight turned his sword on the wolf destroying it and bringing The Legendary Fisherman's life-points down to 5800. "It's a slight lead but I have turned this duel around."

"Perhaps but it's far from over!" The Legendary Fisherman responded before holding up Piwraithe's card. "Unfortunately, you'll have to hear Piwraithe's name one last time, as I summoned him through his effect he is banished once is leaves the field."

"That's fine by me, I figured a card like that would have some kind of drawback." Chakra nodded as Silver Chain Knight returned to her side of the field. "Speaking of drawbacks, if I use Silver Chain Knight's effect on the same turn, I summon him he can't attack the next turn, so don't fret if you fail to draw a monster! I end my turn." Chakra announced and The Legendary Fisherman drew his card.

"I activate Foolish Burial at Sea!" The Legendary Fisherman announced as he played the card and started going through his deck. "With this Spell Card I can send two Water Type Monsters from my deck to the graveyard in exchange for my Normal Summon this turn!"

"So why not just use Foolish Burial?" Chakra asked with a raised eyebrow and The Legendary Fisherman grinned.

"I have my reasons, such as the fact that it allows me to render one monster you control unable to attack on your next turn if I have a card with the name "Umi" in it's text, and I target your knight." The Legendary Fisherman responded and Chakra frowned as her knight doubled over. "That concludes things for me, now take your move!" The Legendary Fisherman added, and Chakra's frown deepened before drawing her card.

"_I can't attack with my knight, but I do have other monsters at my disposal." _Chakra thought before playing a card. "I summon a second Combo Fighter!" Chakra announced as she played the card and the red haired fighter returned to the field. "My knight can't attack but the same doesn't apply to my Combo Fighter and he's itching to finish what he started earlier! Combo Fighter, attack his life-points directly!" Chakra commanded and the fighter lunged forward.

"He'll have to wait a little longer! I activate the effect of Blizzard Wolf from the graveyard! Since it's your battle phase and he's in my graveyard I can bring back my wolf one last time." The Legendary Fisherman announced as Blizzard Wolf returned to the field. "Like Piwraithe he will be banished the moment he leaves the field."

"Then allow me to send him packing." Chakra responded and The Fisherman shook his head.

"I'm afraid not, Blizzard Wolf's effect negates the attack, so no replay occurs." The Legendary Fisherman responded, and Chakra frowned.

"Take your turn." Chakra growled and The Legendary Fisherman drew his card. _"I bet my family's personal wealth that he used his Spell Card to send another Piwraithe to the graveyard and he'll be stronger than before if that's true."_

"_But not as strong as your knight." _Iris reminded her and Chakra nodded.

"_True but knowing him he likely has a few ways to power him up." _Chakra thought before The Legendary Fisherman switched Blizzard Wolf to defence mode and motioned for her to take her move. "That's it?"

"I got a dead draw, it's your move." The Legendary Fisherman nodded, and Chakra raised an eyebrow before drawing her card.

"_If that's not a bluff then I'll be surprised." _Chakra thought before looking at her drawn card. "I activate Chain of Events, since I have Silver Dungeon on the field this will allow my monsters to inflict piercing damage for the rest of the turn."

"Impressive but even if you attack twice it won't be enough to end the duel." The Legendary Fisherman responded and Chakra grinned.

"Well for starters, I never said I was done." Chakra added before playing her third Pot of Chains and drawing twice. "Oh, and by the way? Since that was a chain my Combo Master gets to attack twice!" Chakra added as Combo Master glowed. "And I'll banish Pot of Chains to allow Silver Chain Knight to attack twice." Chakra added as she pocketed the card. "In other words, this is over."

"We'll see!" The Legendary Fisherman responded, and Chakra frowned.

"Yeah, I don't trust your graveyard." Chakra commented as she played a card. "So, let's empty it out a bit with Soul Release which allows me to banish up to five cards from your graveyard!" Chakra added and The Legendary Fisherman lowered his head before allowing his graveyard to be displayed to Chakra. "Just as I thought, you sent another Piwraithe to the graveyard with Foolish Burial at Sea, well, I can't leave that in the graveyard so I'll get rid of that, Amphibian Beast, Kairyu-Shin, that other monster you sent to the graveyard and Wrath of Poseidon!"

"Very well." The Legendary Fisherman nodded as he pocketed the five cards. "Congratulations on your win Chakra!"

"Thanks, and after this I'll be happy if I don't see water for the rest of the day, Silver Chain Knight, Combo Fighter, finish it!" Chakra commanded and the two monsters launched their respective attacks, first the knight took out Blizzard Wolfe and then the rest of the attacks followed bringing his life-points down to zero. "That was too close."

"Agreed." Jade nodded as she walked over to the younger woman and passed her the hairband, Chakra took it and started fixing up her hair again. "Hey, where'd he disappear to?" Jade commented and Chakra glanced out towards the ocean and realized that The Legendary Fisherman was gone.

"Maybe he's gone off to meet us closer to the village…." Chakra trailed off as she spotted another wave coming up and quickly got Jade and herself out of the way before either woman could get soaked, when they looked up they saw that the Fisherman had returned and with him came a Destiny Orb.

"My apologies but the Destiny Orb was at the bottom of the ocean, I had to go retrieve it." The Legendary Fisherman commented before handing it over to Jade. "Meet me at the village and we'll discuss your next destination."

"So long as it's far away from water, I won't complain." Chakra nodded before they headed back to the village.

*back at the HUD*

"Impressive, The Legendary Fisherman is one of the tougher bosses in the game." Sophia commented with a nod as she watched the conclusion of the duel between Chakra and The Legendary Fisherman. "Not the toughest but certainly one of the tougher ones."

"Considering Mako is one of the nicest duellists from Yugi's era and one of the few guys who no one has anything bad to say about, it's fitting." Rachel nodded in agreement before checking her monitor. "Nicola's group is near its next Destiny Orb."

"Keep a close eye on them, after what happened during Ariana's duel, I don't want to take any chances with them." Sophia nodded with a frown on her face before leaving the HUD. _"Hopefully, it'll go off without a hitch, now then, Kangaroo Space Cowboys, how can I make that a serious archetype?" _Sophia thought as she re-joined her group.


End file.
